Creative labour and professional organizations in Turkish cinema until 1980

The living and working conditions of laborers within Turkey's film industry have been sporadically showcased in the media and within the industry, often focusing on the bleak circumstances they endure in their later years, marked by poverty and solitude. This purported 'attention' is often portrayed with an artificial sense of "Yeşilçam nostalgia," casting these laborers as feeble and disheartened individuvals who have fallen from grace and been forsaken. This thesis delves into the historical trajectory of Turkey's film industry from its inception until the 1980s, meticulously examining the organizational experiences and ongoing struggle of film industry workers for their social and economic rights, as well as their relentless pursuit of creating high-quality films. The thesis elucidates their culture of protest and pivotal periods of organizational strength. Within the Yeşilçam film industry, a robust system for labor regulation or regulatory laws has been conspicuously absent, resulting in precarious conditions, grueling work environments, and extended work hours for cinema laborers. In such circumstances, these creative laborers, aspiring to produce artistic works, have unfortunately become one of the most vulnerable groups subject to exploitation and attrition. Those in the arts and cultural sectors have encountered more challenges in organizing due to intricate production relations and class attributes compared to labor groups in other industries. Periods arose when the intellectual and technical creative forces involved in film production struggled to unite and address their professional and artistic challenges. The most impactful cinema worker organizations emerged from those who surmounted distinctions like "head and arm," "worker and artist," uniting for a common cause. This thesis critically addresses pivotal questions regarding how shifts in the Turkish economy, industrial advancements in cinema, and political interventions in film content influence the creativity of cinema workers, and to what extent entities like associations and unions advocate for unfettered production conditions. Looking back until 1980, it is paramount to acknowledge that the cinema workers actively engaged in organizational endeavors were also individuals passionately devoted to creating exceptional films. Labor-centric organizations epitomize the conscience of cinema, serving as the bedrock for the quest for artistic freedom within Yeşilçam.