Turkish cinema sector breaks sales record last year

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

Düğün Dernek,’ which was released in movie theaters last month, received the second highest number of viewers after ‘CM101MMXI Fundamentals.’

The cinema sector in Turkey, which has gone from strength to strength in recent years, recorded the highest number of tickets sales in the last three decades in 2013, according to figures from the Culture and Tourism Ministry.

A total of 49.58 million tickets were bought in the cinema sector between Jan. 4 and Dec. 29, 2013, providing revenues of 497 million Turkish Liras. Approximately 138,000 people went to a movie theater a day.

According to information provided by the ministry’s Cinema General Directorate, the high figures were reached thanks to collaboration between the ministry and private institutions.

Turkish productions also joined in the success in 2013, with box office sales increasing for domestic films by 15 percent. More than 28.5 million tickets were sold for local productions, representing 58 percent of the overall ticket sales made over the year.

Most watched film

The most watched production last year was Cem Yılmaz’s “CM101MMXI Fundamentals,” a compilation of his stage shows, rather than high-budget productions. Another film “Düğün Dernek,” which was recently released, approached the records for Yılmaz’s production, drawing 3.7 viewers in 24 days.

Elsewhere, the Cinema Support Committee provided 2.6 million liras in financial support to 119 productions.