Category: Issue 40, Summer 2025

Göksel Aymaz

Abstract: This article aims to identify the modernist character in the cinema of Yılmaz Güney and Nuri Bilge Ceylan. The critique of man and the world has always been transformed into a promise of happiness in classical modernism. This promise is tied to the ability and action of man to change the world by changing himself, to emancipatory praxis. This modernist attitude in Güney’s cinema, in addition to the semantic dimension of his stories, is most visibly manifested in the iconic impact of the “valiant” characters he portrays in his films, which is sometimes reinforced by his real-life persona. Through his protagonists, ranging from the “bandit” in the countryside to the “bully” in the city, Güney develops an objection against the evil world, and with his iconic image, he encourages his fans to aspire to a similar kind of objection. The modernist character of Ceylan’s cinema stems from the way it depicts the evil of man and the world, and the way it shows why man and the world are in a state of evil and pessimism. Evil exposed without deception is the guiding image of goodness, and Ceylan’s cinema becomes a promise of goodness and happiness by showing evil without deception.

Keywords: Yılmaz Güney, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Modernism, Promise of happiness, Emancipatory praxis

Göksel Aymaz
DOI: 10.29224/insanveinsan.1668016
Year 12, Issue 40, Summer 2025

Tam metin / Full text
(Turkish)

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Mahmut Hakkı Akın

Abstract: The Unforgettable Director of Love Films is one of the important films of director Yavuz Turgul. This film, which tells the adventure of a director making a new film, can be considered a self-reflective work in terms of Turkish cinema. Wanting to make a film that was different from his usual style, director Haşmet Asilkan wanted to differentiate himself and be approved by the cultural circle he considered as upper class. Because of this desire, he started to dress differently than before and go to different places. His effort to make a new film using the resources of the old cultural environment has given rise to many ironic situations. In this article, the symbolic power relations in the film, The Unforgettable Director of Love Films are analyzed, especially through the concepts of Bourdieu’s sociology such as field, habitus, hysteresis and doxa. Turkish cinema is a sub-field that reflects the social reality of culture and art in Türkiye. A film is limited by the social and cultural positions that have been formed and structured in the field rather than by the individual desire of the director. The film successfully reflected this reality.

Keywords: Sociology of cinema, Turkish cinema, Symbolic power, Habitus, Hysteresis

Mahmut Hakkı Akın
DOI: 10.29224/insanveinsan.1668652
Year 12, Issue 40, Summer 2025

Tam metin / Full text
(Turkish)

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Zühre Canay Güven

Abstract: New Turkish Cinema embraces minimalist audio-visual elements, with long takes, contemplative narratives, and a mediated film experience that invites slow engagement and introspection. Through a focused comparison of Nuri Bilge Ceylan and Zeki Demirkubuz, two of the most influential and internationally recognized figures in this movement, this article examines how their distinct directorial styles articulate the aesthetics of slowness. Both emerged in the 1990s as central figures in the post-Yeşilçam cinematic landscape, yet their approaches differ markedly. Ceylan’s films employ rural landscapes, subdued rhythms, and interior stillness, while Demirkubuz crafts existential narratives in confined urban settings through stark realism and elliptical storytelling. Despite their stylistic differences, both directors adopt techniques associated with global slow cinema. This article argues that slowness in New Turkish Cinema functions not merely as a matter of pacing, but as a cinematic strategy for expressing cultural unease, offering a lens to reflect on memory and identity.

Keywords: New Turkish cinema, Slow cinema, Contemplative cinema, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Zeki Demirkubuz

Zühre Canay Güven
DOI: 10.29224/insanveinsan.1658448
Year 12, Issue 40, Summer 2025

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(English)

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Ferhat Zengin / Bahadır Kapır

Abstract: This research examines unofficial censorship interventions in cinema establishments during the Yeşilçam period. The study centers on experiences of film projectionists, who constitute the critical link in Turkish cinema’s exhibition chain. Projectionists, holding strategic positions within cinema culture and operational dynamics, witnessed social transformations in viewing practices through their technical expertise and authority to intervene in film content, while playing an active role in this process. In this qualitative research with phenomenological approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 42 veteran projectionists using snowball sampling. Findings reveal that censorship practices were implemented on films that passed official boards without rights holders’ knowledge. Projectionists directly performed the majority of these interventions, while some were applied following cinema management instructions. Unofficial intervention practices were systematically operated through changing film titles and posters, duration cuts, scene removals, additional material insertions, and blackout techniques.

Keywords: Censorship, Yeşilçam, Film Projectionist, Cinema Operations, Turkish Cinema

Ferhat Zengin / Bahadır Kapır
DOI: 10.29224/insanveinsan.1658336
Year 12, Issue 40, Summer 2025

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(Turkish)

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Kemal Çelik / İhsan Eken

Abstract: The Turkish film and TV industry has rapidly expanded, becoming an im-portant international production center with significant economic and cultural impact. However, this growth has led to increased intellectual property violations and cases of plagiarism, particularly in screenwriting. The screenwriting process involves numerous creative stages; however, protecting original ideas is challenging due to the involvement of multiple stakeholders. This situation threatens scriptwriters’ rights to authorship and exerts considerable pressure on the creative process. In-depth interviews conducted with 18 active screenwriters, selected through snowball sampling, revealed that over half had experienced plagiarism. Participants noted that plagiarism often involves professionally reconstructing original ideas out of context, highlighting the inadequacy of existing legal frameworks to clearly define such cases. Additionally, legal processes are described as lengthy and ineffective, and professional associations reportedly fail to provide impartial and supportive roles. Consequently, clearer definitions of plagiarism, improvements in legal mechanisms, establishment of a script registration system, and strengthening of professional associations are recommended.

Keywords: Script, plagiarism, scriptwriters rights, Inspiration, Principle of independent creation

Kemal Çelik / İhsan Eken
DOI: 10.29224/insanveinsan.1668256
Year 12, Issue 40, Summer 2025

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(Turkish)

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Mehmet Emin Balcı

Abstract: This study examines comedy films set in the countryside in post-2000 Turkish cinema as an original narrative form that transcends conventional classifications. By their popularity, these films humorously depict shifting center-periphery relations and local tensions with the metropolitan center. Drawing on Alfred Schutz’s phenomenological sociology, comedy is conceptualized as a social experience shaped through intersubjective relations and interactions with normative structures. A total of 29 feature-length films released between 2000 and 2023 are analyzed using phenomenological methods and categorized into three thematic types: political country comedies, character-based comedies, and community comedies. The findings reveal that country comedies not only portray social conflict but also depict processes of reconciliation and acceptance. In this framework, the countryside is redefined as a dynamic and contradictory social formation. The study argues that country comedy is an emerging genre in Turkish cinema with both sociological depth and aesthetic potential.

Keywords: Center-periphery, Social change, Humor, Common sense, Character

Mehmet Emin Balcı
DOI: 10.29224/insanveinsan.1668679
Year 12, Issue 40, Summer 2025

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(Turkish)

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Özge Kesici / Gökhan Gültekin

Abstract: The aim of this study is to discuss the transformation of comedy films in the period from 1960 to the present day, especially similar to social change, through sample films. In order to reveal how the films included in the comedy genre have changed and transformed in the historical process in relation to the social structure, genre criticism, sociological criticism and historical criticism which are preferred in film studies were utilized. In this context, the films Turist Ömer (1964), Hababam Sınıfı (1975), Züğürt Ağa (1985), Her Şey Çok Güzel Olacak (1998), Recep İvedik (2008), Aile Arasında (2017), and Ölümlü Dünya 2 (2023) have been analyzed. It can be argued that the objective of these films is not solely to provoke laughter. It is observed that a multitude of social realities-such as shifting consumption patterns, urbanization, individualization, cultural degeneration, moral decay, gender issues, and a growing indifference to the environment-are addressed within the films included in the sample. As a result, it has been determined how comedy films have experienced a transformation from 1960 to the present, especially in parallel with social change has been determined through the analysis of sample films.

Keywords: Social change, Cinema, Turkish films, Comedy, Transformation of the comedy

Özge Kesici / Gökhan Gültekin
DOI: 10.29224/insanveinsan.1662656
Year 12, Issue 40, Summer 2025

Tam metin / Full text
(Turkish)

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Meltem İşler Sevindi / Koray Sevindi

Abstract: This study focuses on the cinematic representation of traditional arts, religious-ritual practices, and identity construction processes in four feature-length films by Murat Pay (Mâşuk’un Nefesi (Breath of the Beloved), Mirâciyye: Saklı Miras (Miradjiyah: Hidden Inheritance), Dilsiz (Mute), and Hep Otuz Üç Yaşında (Forever Thirty-Three)). Using a qualitative film analysis framework, the research employs close reading to examine formal elements such as camera work, editing rhythm, choice of location, and character actions, as well as thematic notions of silence, patience, and meşk (ritual apprenticeship). The investigation is guided by Assmann’s cultural memory theory, Necipoğlu’s perspective on Islamic aesthetics, and Schimmel’s conceptualization of Sufi experience, offering a reflective interpretation of the films’ cultural and spiritual layers. The findings indicate that modernity and secularization need not eradicate traditional arts or Sufi practices; rather, Pay’s films revive them through cinema, positioning these elements as dynamic forces that directly shape the characters’ existential renewal and identity formation. Thus, the tension between aesthetics and spirituality, tradition and modernity emerges as a novel cinematic quest and a form of “spiritual resistance.”

Keywords: Sufism, Traditional arts, Cultural memory, Identity construction, Modernity

Meltem İşler Sevindi / Koray Sevindi
DOI: 10.29224/insanveinsan.1668647
Year 12, Issue 40, Summer 2025

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(Turkish)

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Aydın Çam

Abstract: This study aims to identify the films screened in Adana during the Second World War, classify them based on their production and distribution origins, and interpret exhibition practices shaped by wartime conditions. The severe and unstable circumstances of the war disrupted film supply in Turkey and continually affected import dynamics. In this context, examining the films shown in Adana offers insights into Turkish cinema history and the city’s socio-cultural fabric. The research is based on an archival review of three local newspapers –Bugün, Türksözü, and Yeni Adana–published during the war years. The data collected were thematically organized, and analytically evaluated. The findings indicate that the films exhibited fall into five categories: (1) Theatrical films, primarily American productions; (2) German (UFA) films; (3) Oriental films; (4) Turkish productions; and (5) Newsreels, propaganda, and war films. The study provides a localized perspective on wartime exhibition practices and sheds light on the formative conditions of Yeşilçam cinema.

Keywords: The Second World War, Turkish cinema history, Adana cinema history, History of film distribution, Oriental films

Aydın Çam
DOI: 10.29224/insanveinsan.1658424
Year 12, Issue 40, Summer 2025

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(Turkish)

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Ayşegül Çilingir

Abstract: TDuring the Yeşilçam era, Turkish cinema experienced its golden age in terms of both the number of films produced and audience attendance. The increasing interest in cinema during this period encouraged filmmakers to explore diverse themes, ultimately leading them to adapt works from literary genres such as novels and folk tales. One of the prominent figures of Turkish folk tales, Keloğlan, became the central character in numerous films made during this time. This study analyzes the 1971 film Keloğlan, directed by Süreyya Duru, through the lens of Seymour Chatman’s narrative diagram presented in his book Story and Discourse: Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film. In this diagram, narrative is examined on two levels: “story” (content), which encompasses elements such as events, existents, and the author’s cultural codes; and “discourse” (expression), which includes the mode of presentation and its manifestations. The analysis concludes that Keloğlan (1971) reflects the traditional narrative features of Turkish folk tales and exemplifies the general characteristics of Yeşilçam-era cinema.

Keywords: Film studies, Narrative diagram, Turkish cinema, Yeşilçam, Keloğlan

Ayşegül Çilingir
DOI: 10.29224/insanveinsan.1668121
Year 12, Issue 40, Summer 2025

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(Turkish)

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