The changing structure of film festivals in Turkey

The new millennium brought structural changes for countries and politics which also affected the working of film festivals. Film festivals mark the mapping of global and or regional, local functions film industries. The first film festival in Venice/Europe started the tradition of film festivals across the world with spectacular celebrations and celebrities in front of the spotlights. Doubtless, film festivals have important functions for film industries worldwide. This research on the film festivals in Turkey studies their problems, their economical structures and sources of financial income, their contents, their organization and working by a quantitative methodology of descriptive analysis. To this aim, in-depth interviews with various stakeholders from the film industries have been concluded. Film directors, festival organizers, and political actors have been included in these interviews. The work suggests that film festivals play a positive role in a country's film industry. In particular aspiring directors, new developments and movements in film making are all introduced by way of film festivals. In Turkey, film directors develop their identities through film festivals and get the chance to introduce their films to audiences from diverse cultural backgrounds. Among the main problems which with film makers struggle comes at the outset the funding for film making. It has been found that projected audience numbers for festivals influence the engagement of the sponsors for these events. Another subject for study was the establishment of juries and the process of evaluation. Jury rules have ever been subject to debate in festivals. As the establishment of film festivals starts with a kind of political impetus, this stance continues to affect the whole of the festival process. The study reveals that film festivals in Turkey assert positive contributions on the related film industries and film directors. The study is concluded with data and suggestions found in the individual interviews.