Representations of child brides in Turkish cinema between 2010-2016

Cinema, as an industry dominated by man, hasn't been producing realistic images of women. The representations of women are usually constructed by and served for, the male gaze. The continuity of gender discrimination, which is seen in traditional societies and which is supposed to be extinct with modernisation, is reflected in the film narratives. Films reflect the pattern of patriarchal state of mind in the society and by doing that films contribute to the reproduction of male dominated practices in social life. Feminist film theorists focused on how women are subordinated by using patriarchal codes, ideologies and cinematic tools in films for their studies as a reaction to male domination in cinema. They have tried to find new ways of filmmaking which would not be against women but be supporting them; and also a way to find how male domination would be overcome. In a similar way, it's also possible to find traces of patriarchal structure in Turkish cinema. Films that deal with women's issues are presented to the audience as products of an industry, dominated by man. The main purpose of this study is to find out how the representations of child brides, which is usually considered as a problem that is focused on by feminist researches and women associations, reflected to the cinema screen. Four films (Lal Gece, 2012; Halam Geldi, 2013; Mustang, 2014; Yarım, 2015) have been selected and analysed, to carry out the aim of the study. As a result, it's founded that while representing child brides, both the gaze and the voice of women in these films are insufficient. Keywords: Cinema, Childbrides, Feminism, Patriarchy, Turkish Cinema, Women,Child Brides in Cinema