The perception and individual in Turkish cinema on immigration (1960-2009)

Even though cinema was introduced by the entertainment industry, it evolved into social impact entertainment to have a positive effect on society and communities, developing its own concience to reflect on social change. This industry used entertainment as a delivery system for the political changes that started at the end of 1960s in Turkey as it was the case around the World. The most significant social phenomenon of the 1960s in Turkey is immigration and this left a substantial imprint on the film industry. These films allow us to detect minor social details, spatial changes and analyze expectations. If these films are analysed in corresponding decades starting in 1960s, you can detect the condition of the space and the individual and notice the reflections of the spaces on the involved parties. Each decade presents specific economic, political and cultural changes and while this transforms the effects of immigration, there also is a constant shift of spaces, cities and materials. This thesis deals with the transformations caused by the aforementioned reasons on the interactions of the space, materials and characters, taking the social reflections of the film director as a reference. The films were analysed according to grounded theory. The films of various directors were used from different decades to facilitate an authentic record of corresponding time periods. The visual analysis of the space is performed using Henri Lefebvre's theories of 'production of space, critic of every day life' and 'the right to the city'. The alterations of space and the effect of this change on the individual in Turkish 'immigration' cinema is then interpreted and discussed in detail. Immigration now has acquired an international dimension, this thesis gives us a chance to look back and review this phenomenon through the evaluation of social impact entertainment during its acceleration in recent decades in Turkey.