Reading the cinema discussions of 1960s Turkey through political magazines: The cases of yön and ant

This thesis investigates a central discussion of the 1960s Turkish cinema, remembered as "the National Cinema Discussion," which separated the cinema circles into two opposing camps: National Cinema directors versus the cinema critics and writers who came together around the Turkish Cinematheque (founded in 1965). The 1960s corresponded to a period in the country when intellectual discussions pursued in leftist magazines with meaningfully high reach in society had the power to impact how the fine arts were practiced, including theatre, painting, and cinema. The belief in cinema's power of influencing and shaping the masses contributed to the high visibility of the discussions about cinema, its relationship with the state, and its economic structure. These discussions also mirrored how the intellectuals of the period perceived their country and what they wished for its development. Incorporating secondary literature about Turkish cinema and cinema articles and surveys published in two selected leftist magazines of the period, Yön and Ant, this study argues that the cinema discussions of the 1960s are meaningful for understanding the historical development of the intellectual life and discussions in the country. The discussions analyzed show that some fundamental concerns and conflicts of the new Turkish cinema, such as the separation between art cinema and entertainment cinema and the capitalist model of the Turkish cinema sector, existed in the 1960s. The first chapter of the thesis offers a detailed analysis of the National Cinema discussion through the perspectives of the representatives of the two sides of the conflict: Halit Refiğ in the name of directors and Onat Kutlar in the name of the Turkish Cinematheque. The second chapter analyzes and categorizes the discussions pursued through Yön and Ant magazines. The third chapter focuses on three selected movies from three "National Cinema" directors: Bir Türk'e Gönül Verdim (1969) by Halit Refiğ, Kuyu (1968) by Metin Erksan and Bitmeyen Yol (1965) by Duygu Sağıroğlu. The analyses of the movies question whether the ideas and concepts heavily discussed in magazines had an actual impact in films' techniques, cinematography, and stories.