70 domestic movies to debut over next 10 months

After recent box office success and awards at international film festivals, Turkish films are now preparing to break new records: Over the next 10 months, 70 Turkish films are set to open – the highest number ever to debut in a season. Copyrights and Cinema General Director Abdurrahman Celik said that the 10 top-grossing films in the country over the last 10 months were all Turkish. "This is unbelievable in terms of box-office success. This was never the case before, and it is very heartening," he said. Celik predicted that the upcoming films would shatter records. "About 70 films will open between September and June of next year," he said. "This will be a Turkish record. We will see how successful they are at the box office; I hope we'll see good results." On a new law meant to boost foreign investment in movie production, Celik described it as a major step in dealing with the sector's problems. "Lowering value-added tax rates will be a relief to foreign investors," he added. "But this alone won't solve the problem. In addition, some retroactive incentives should be implemented. If this can be done, four or five major films could be shot in Turkey every year." He stressed that this could make Turkey one of Hollywood's top movie location countries within five years.