Going to movies an intercity affair
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Anatolian Agency
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Aralık 04, 2008 00:00
ISTANBUL - The 1,140 cinemas are mainly located in Istanbul, Turkey’s biggest city, and the capital city of Ankara. It seems like the number of movie theaters are increasing but the reality does not quite reflect this as fewer people are going out to see films on the big screen.
Compared to in recent years, people nowadays no longer show much interest in going to the movies. As one of the industries affected by the global economical crisis, movie theaters are closing their doors in the big cities, while there are many cities in Turkey that have never had movie theaters.
In a country of 70 million, most of the country's movie theaters are located in Istanbul, the biggest city, and the capital city of Ankara. One third of the 1,140 cinemas are located in Istanbul and Ankara. Yet, 11 cities around Turkey are unaware of movie theaters.
The Turkey Statistics Association, or TUIK, revealed the situation of movie theaters around Turkey as part of research on "Culture Statistics 2007." Most people claimed that with the big movie theaters being re-designed into pocket movie theaters and people preferring big screened TVs at home, the habit of people going to cinemas would disappear.
According to the research, the total number of seats is 161,923. Of the cinemas in Turkey, 818 of the movie theaters are rented by companies and 310 belong to the landlord. A total number of 2,921 people were employed by the movie theaters.
When looked at the number of movie theaters and seats it is obvious that the cinema industry in Turkey does not stand where it should. Once the number of cinemas in İzmir, Bursa and Antalya is added to the ones in Ankara and Istanbul, they account for half the total number of cinemas in the country.
In Istanbul, a city which hosts more than 10 million people, there are only 36,763 seats in 256 movie theaters. The number of cinemas in Ankara is 116 with 18,809 seats. The southern city Antalya has 52 movie theaters and Adana has 25.
Cities in the east without movie theaters
Turkey’s cities located in the east and southeastern regions are mostly without movie theaters. Kırıkkale, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, Ağrı, Iğdır, Ardahan, Muş, Mardin, Kilis, Şırnak and Siirt are among those without. While Çankırı, Sinop, Kars, Tunceli, Bitlis and Batman only have one movie theater.
The chairman of the Union of Professional Owners of Cinema Works, or SE-SAM, Yılmaz Atadeniz, said the big movie theaters were undergoing construction to form pocket cinemas so that they could hold more screens. According to Atadeniz this is a big problem for the industry. Noting that in the past there was only one cinema screen, he said now cinema’s had at least three screens, yet he claimed that this did not mean the number of the movie theaters was increasing. "They screen lots of movies on TV channels, that’s why people are not willing to go to movie theaters anymore," said Atadeniz.
The general secretariat of Turkish Film Critics Association, or SİYAD, Deniz Yavuz, stated that movie theaters and producers were more worried about money than screening quality films. "The interest of people in the cinema is limited for Turkish films, and for the foreign cinema it is very little," said Yavuz. "As a first step the interest of people should be drawn to cinema by increasing the quality of the cinema halls but decreasing the prices. None of them are possible for now. The halls are designed smaller each time, and people cannot feel the atmosphere of the movie theaters anymore." According to Yavuz if the number of the pocket cinemas increases, it would lead to a decline in the number of people going to the movies.
In a country of 70 million, most of the country's movie theaters are located in Istanbul, the biggest city, and the capital city of Ankara. One third of the 1,140 cinemas are located in Istanbul and Ankara. Yet, 11 cities around Turkey are unaware of movie theaters.
The Turkey Statistics Association, or TUIK, revealed the situation of movie theaters around Turkey as part of research on "Culture Statistics 2007." Most people claimed that with the big movie theaters being re-designed into pocket movie theaters and people preferring big screened TVs at home, the habit of people going to cinemas would disappear.
According to the research, the total number of seats is 161,923. Of the cinemas in Turkey, 818 of the movie theaters are rented by companies and 310 belong to the landlord. A total number of 2,921 people were employed by the movie theaters.
When looked at the number of movie theaters and seats it is obvious that the cinema industry in Turkey does not stand where it should. Once the number of cinemas in İzmir, Bursa and Antalya is added to the ones in Ankara and Istanbul, they account for half the total number of cinemas in the country.
In Istanbul, a city which hosts more than 10 million people, there are only 36,763 seats in 256 movie theaters. The number of cinemas in Ankara is 116 with 18,809 seats. The southern city Antalya has 52 movie theaters and Adana has 25.
Cities in the east without movie theaters
Turkey’s cities located in the east and southeastern regions are mostly without movie theaters. Kırıkkale, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, Ağrı, Iğdır, Ardahan, Muş, Mardin, Kilis, Şırnak and Siirt are among those without. While Çankırı, Sinop, Kars, Tunceli, Bitlis and Batman only have one movie theater.
The chairman of the Union of Professional Owners of Cinema Works, or SE-SAM, Yılmaz Atadeniz, said the big movie theaters were undergoing construction to form pocket cinemas so that they could hold more screens. According to Atadeniz this is a big problem for the industry. Noting that in the past there was only one cinema screen, he said now cinema’s had at least three screens, yet he claimed that this did not mean the number of the movie theaters was increasing. "They screen lots of movies on TV channels, that’s why people are not willing to go to movie theaters anymore," said Atadeniz.
The general secretariat of Turkish Film Critics Association, or SİYAD, Deniz Yavuz, stated that movie theaters and producers were more worried about money than screening quality films. "The interest of people in the cinema is limited for Turkish films, and for the foreign cinema it is very little," said Yavuz. "As a first step the interest of people should be drawn to cinema by increasing the quality of the cinema halls but decreasing the prices. None of them are possible for now. The halls are designed smaller each time, and people cannot feel the atmosphere of the movie theaters anymore." According to Yavuz if the number of the pocket cinemas increases, it would lead to a decline in the number of people going to the movies.