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Film Censorship during the Golden Era of Turkish Cinema

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Silencing Cinema

Part of the book series: Global Cinema ((GLOBALCINE))

Abstract

This chapter focuses on Turkish film censorship during the 1960s and the early 1970s, a period not only marked by two military interventions (in 1960 and 1971), but also considered the golden era of Turkish film production. Through the release of 200–300 films a year (ranging frommelodramas to comedies, action and adventure to fantastic and superhero films) and the phenomenal popularity of its film stars, Turkish cinema of the time, constituted a major pastime and a significant site of identity formation and negotiation. Thousands of film censorship reports, which constitute the primary source material in this chapter, reveal that the Turkish state, too, conceived cinema as a powerful, even rival, discursive domain where various social identities and meanings were produced and circulated.

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Notes

  1. These reports are currently held in paper format by the Turkish ministry of Culture, Directorate General of Copyrights and Cinema in Ankara. They are not accessible to the general public. Researchers who want to browse this material should apply to the Directorate in writing.

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  2. The history of censorship in Turkey is extensive, and film censorship occupies a wide but underexplored part of it. Major sources on the topic are: Onaran, A. ¸S. (1968) Sinematofigrafik Hürriyet. Ankara: fiiçi¸sleri Bakanlifigi

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  3. Tikve¸s, Ö. (1968)Mukayeseli Hukukta ve Türk Hukukunda Sinema Filmlerinin Sansürü. Istanbul: Istanbul Üniversitesi Yayinlari

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  4. Özgüç, A. (1976) Türk Sinemasi Sansür Dosyasi. Istanbul: Koza Yayinlari

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  5. Ak, B. (1993) Siyahperde: Türk Sinemasinda Sansürün Tarihi, compact disc, T. C. Kültür Bakanlifigi and Ye¸silçam Filmcilik

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  6. Makal, O. (1996) Le cinéma et la vie politique: Le jeu s’appelle “vivre avec la censure,” pp. 131–145 in Basutçu, M. Le cinéma Turc. Paris: Centre Georges Pompidou.

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  7. Onaran, A. ¸S. (1994) Türk Sinemasi I. Ankara: Kitle Yayinlari, p. 31.

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  8. Filmlerin ve Film Senaryolarinin Kontrolüne Dair Nizamname, pp. 12375–12377 in Resmi Gazete (1939) 4272; Onaran (1968); Tikve¸s, Ö. (1974) 22 Yil özgürlükten sonra Türkiye’de sansürü ilk kez fiingilizler 1919’da “Mürebbiye” filmine uyguladilar, pp. 3–4 in Milliyet Sanat 65; Özgüç (1976).

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  9. On the limitations of the “prohibition model” in studies of censorship, see Kuhn, A. (1988) Cinema, Censorship and Sexuality, 1910–1925. London: Routledge.

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  10. Özön, N. (1995) Denetlemenin ?I¸sbirlikçileri, pp. 295–296 in Özön, N. Karagözden Sinemaya 2. Ankara: Kitle Yayinlari.

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  12. Onaran, A. ¸S. (1990) Lüt? Ö. Akad. Istanbul: AFA, p. 123.

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  13. See the reports of Ömre Bedel Kiz, file no. 91122/3823; Nankör Kadin, file no. 91122/2613.

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  14. See the reports of Karde¸s Gibiydiler (They Were Like Brothers, 1963, file no. 91122/2438) and Erkek Fatma Evleniyor (Tomboy Is Getting Married, 1963, file no. 91122/2381).

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  15. ¸Sa¸skin Hafiye Killinge Kar¸si, file no. 91122/4008; Fantoma fiIstanbul’da Bulu¸salim, file no. 91122/4095; Estambul 65, file no. 91122/2919.

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  16. File no. 91122/2490.

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  17. Kolejli Kizin A¸ski, file no. 91122/3343; Kanunsuz Dafiglar, file no: 91122/3543.

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  18. See the reports of Varan Bir (1963, file no. 91122/2494); Temem Bilakis (1964, file no. 91122/2948); Sokaklarin Melefigi Fato¸s (1971, file no. 91122/4987); and Akdeniz ¸Sarkisi (1963, file no. 91122/2567).

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  19. File no. 91128-1/5-19.

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  20. See the reports of Makber (1963, file no. 91122/2573; Bofigaziçinde A¸sk (1966, file no. 91122/3228); Çapraz Delikanli (1963, file no. 91122/2647); and Akdeniz ¸Sarkisi (1963, file no. 91122/2567).

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  21. ¸Sa¸skin Baba, file no. 91122/2642; Be¸s Hergele, file no. 91122/5159.

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  22. Fedailer, file no. 91122/3727; Allahaismarladik Istanbul, file no. 91122/3448.

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  23. See the reports of Renk Duvarlari (1968, file no. 91128-1/5-19) and Ana Tanriça (1970, file no. 91128-1-5/30).

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  24. File no. 91122/3691.

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  25. File no. 91122/3156.

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  26. Il Mercenario, file no. 91123/966; Remparts d’argile, file no. 91128/1-5-32; La Cina è vicina, file no. 91128-1/5-25; Jamais le dimanche, file no. 91123/903; Tante Zita, file no. 91111/6604.

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  27. See the reports of fiIsmail Üvey Anne (1963, file no. 91123/904) and The Blade of Vengeance (1964, file no. 91125/151-2). For further discussion of the censorship commissions’ wariness of the “propaganda of Communism,” see Erdofigan, N. & D. Kaya (2002) Institutional Intervention in the Distribution and Exhibition of Hollywood Films in Turkey, pp. 47–59 in Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television 22 (1).

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  28. See the reports of On Korkusuz Adam (1965, file no. 91122/2977); Seyit Han— Toprafigin Gelini (1968, file no. 91122/4167); fiImzam Kanla Yazilir (1970, file no. 91122/4803); and Krallarin Kaderi (1970, file no. 91122/4920).

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  29. File no. 91122/2929.

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  30. Since we discuss in detail the censorship of religion in Turkish films elsewhere, here we present only an overview of the issue. See Mutlu, D. K. & Z. Koçer (2012) A Different Story of Secularism: The Censorship of Religious Elements in Turkish Films of the 1960s and Early 1970s, pp. 71–89 in European Journal of Cultural Studies 15 (1).

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  31. The commissions asked for revisions only if the films included nudity, sex, or sexually offensive dialogues, as they did with any other non-religious film. However, the foreign film The Ten Commandments (1956, inspection date: 1964) was rejected on the grounds of propagating religion (file no. 91123/921).

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  32. File no. 91122/4905. Later, upon the application of the filmmakers to the Supreme Council, Hope was allowed to be screened in Turkey.

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  33. File no. 91122/4818.

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  34. Feriha Sanerk, the only female member of the censorship commissions in the 1960s, expresses this fact openly in a documentary about film censorship in Turkey. See Ak (1993). For some directors’ anecdotes on this subject, see also Esen, ¸S. K. (2002) Sinemamizda Bir “Auteur” Ömer Kavur. Istanbul: Alfa Yayinlari, p. 458; Onaran (1990), p. 123.

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  35. Tikve¸s, Ö. (1966) Film Sansürü ve 1961 Anayasasi, pp. 305–320 in Istanbul Ünivesitesi Hukuk Fakültesi Mecmuasi 32; Özek, Ç. (1967) Filimcilikte Sansür ve Anayasa Mahkemesinin Konuyla ?Ilgili Bir Karari, pp. 954–979 in Istanbul Ünivesitesi Hukuk Fakültesi Mecmuasi 32.32. Çimen, M. (1977) fiiasin E¸sifigindeki Ye¸silçam ve Sansür, pp. 33–40 in Pinar 71;Tatar, M. (1979) Türkiye’de Film ve Film Senaryolari Sansürü, unpublished master’s thesis, Türkiye ve Orta Dofigu Amme fiIdaresi Enstitüsü; Dönmez, O. (1986)Türkiye’de Film Sansürü ve Yeni Sansür Tüzüfigü, pp. 24–36 in ?Izmir Barosu Dergisi5 (1).

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  36. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlifigi (1989) Sinema, Video ve Müzik Eserleri Kanunu ileYönetmelikler. Ankara: Kültür ve Turzim Bakanlifigi and Onaran, A. ¸S. (1992–1993)Yeni Film Sansür Düzeni, pp. 139–146 in Istanbul Üniversitesi Ileti¸sim Fakültesi Dergisi 1.

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Authors
  1. Dilek Kaya Mutlu
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Daniel Biltereyst Roel Vande Winkel

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© 2013 Daniel Biltereyst and Roel Vande Winkel

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Mutlu, D.K. (2013). Film Censorship during the Golden Era of Turkish Cinema. In: Biltereyst, D., Winkel, R.V. (eds) Silencing Cinema. Global Cinema. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137061980_9

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