007 producers visit mayor for support

ADANA - Anatolia News Agency

The city’s train station and the Varna Bridge are some film locations. DHA photos

The producers of the new film from the 007 James Bond series visited Adana Mayor Zihni Aldırmaz on Jan. 8 to ask for support for filming in the southern province.

Ali Akdeniz, one of the producers of the film’s Turkish scenes, said some film scenes would be shot in Istanbul, others in Adana and nearly 500 people would work on the film, according to a statement by Adana Municipality.

“Filming in Adana is planned over six weeks and would mostly take place on the Varda Railway Bridge near the Belemedik region in Pozantı district,” the statement said, adding that filming in Istanbul will take nearly four weeks.

Since the film’s story is taking place on a railway, a train station in the city center, the Kasım Gülek Bridge and the İncirlik Station will also be used as locations, it said.

Starting in mid-February in Adana, filming will continue into March and, following a break in April, filming in Istanbul would begin, the statement said, adding that crews would return to Adana in May to finish the film’s Turkish scenes. The Kasım Gülek Bridge will be closed to traffic between March 19 and 26 due to filming, Akdeniz said, adding that the star of the film, Daniel Craig, would join the filming in Istanbul and Adana.

Closing the bridge
Mayor Aldırmaz said the municipality would support the film team in the closure of the bridge to traffic. “We will become involved in any project that will contribute to the city’s promotion,” he said.

Adana has a natural scene for filmmakers, he said, adding that one can feel the four seasons on the same day, even in the warmest day of summer. “You can swim on the coasts, feel the spring on the skirt of the Toros Mountains and see Lake Çinili’s frozen water atop the mountains,” he said.

A book was prepared
Aldırmaz said they prepared a 500-page book including the city’s historical and natural beauties and offered a draft of the book to Akdeniz as a gift. The Çukurova region was always attractive for filmmakers, he said. “Mostly, Turkish films were filmed in the region in the 1970s. Many current films and TV series have also been made in the region.”

Adana is a very important place for Turkish cinema, Aldırmaz said, adding that the Adana Cinema Museum opened last year with the contributions of our artists. “It is the largest and the most comprehensive cinema museum after the one in Istanbul,” he said, adding that they also support Turkish cinema with the Golden Boll Film Festival.

“Our purpose is to show all the city’s beauties to the world,” he said.