Yeşilçam represents the Turkish Cinema. America has Hollywood, India has Bollywood, and Turkey has Yeşilçam. Cinema films started being made in Turkey in 1914 and the film companies’ offices were mainly located on Yeşilçam Street in Beyoğlu, Istanbul. Yeşilçam (Green Pine) took its name there.
Yeşilçam movies were shot between the 1950s and 1970s. There were difficulties even finding costumes for scenes during this period because of the political problems in Turkey such as the military coup. And due to such difficulties, Yeşilçam gained a special meaning because it was like pine in the sense that it persevered. Despite the difficult conditions of the period they were in, prominent actors willingly and lovingly acted in films. Yeşilçam is a period in which the production of Turkish cinema and its relationship with the audience was intense. With the increase in interest, new cinema hall started to be open all over the country or the number of seats in the existing cinema hall increased.
Among the most distinctive features of Yeşilçam cinema was that these movies were mostly comedy and village movies for entertainment and having a good time. They successfully adapted the daily events of the Yeşilçam period to the cinema with a witty language. Due to the theme of the movie were from the public, the public’s interest and love had been intense. For example, films about the village headmen, the importance of love and family, and the relationship between good and bad people, met with the audience more than once on the motion-picture screen. For example, Hababam Sınıfı was one of the most popular films of the 70s. And it has 6 sequels. It tells the story of the mischief and sometimes emotional life stories of the young people who were students in the private Çamlıca High School during their school years. Gülen Gözler, on the other hand, has the plot of the issues of family and financial difficulties and brought the audience together with a humorous and warm language.
Many well-known actors such as Kemal Sunal, Tarık Akan, Adile Naşit, and Münir Özkul who took part in the Yeşilçam films left their mark on the world of Turkish cinema and the public. Their work continues to be watched cheerfully. Hababam Sınıfı, Çöpçüler Kralı, Gülen Gözler, Sev kardeşim, Bizim Aile, Selvi Boylum Al Yazmalım and many more are among the unforgettable films of Yeşilçam cinema and they were made by prominent director of the Yeşilçam. For example, one of the most pupuler director was Ertem Eğilmez directed Hababam sınıfı series, Gülen Gözler and Sev Kardeşim. Atıf Yılmaz, the director of Selvi Boylum Al Yazmalım, was one of the leading directors of the period and directed more than 100 films.
