The Department of Strategy Development of Turkey’s Presidential Communications Directorate is planning to shoot a documentary and two movies within three months, Turkish media reported on Friday.
According to a notice from the İstanbul Governor’s Office to the İstanbul Union of Merchants and Artisans Chambers (İSTESOB) and revealed by journalist Sinan Tartanoğlu on Wednesday, a movie titled “Direniş: Devlet” [Resistance: the State] will be shot in İstanbul between Dec. 10 and Jan. 31, 2021.
The notice includes the governor’s instructions to institutions and organizations in İstanbul to provide assistance to crew members for their filming activities, adding that some of the content will be filmed with drones in certain areas of the city.
The governor’s office also indicated that bureaucratic assistance must also be provided to the film crew for inner-city transportation during the days and hours when COVID-19 curfews are in effect.
The Evrensel daily, which examined two other similar notices sent to İSTESOB by the governor’s office, on Friday reported that the directorate also plans to film a documentary titled “Medeniyetler Beşiği Anadolu” [Anatolia the Cradle of Civilizations] and a movie titled “15/7 Şafak Vakti” [15/7 the Dawn] in İstanbul between Dec. 1 and Feb. 28, 2021.
Tantanoğlu reported, citing sources from the presidency, that the communications directorate plans to take these projects to international online streaming platforms such as Netflix.
The projects emerged after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s statements in October that his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) had yet to establish “intellectual power” over Turkey.
“Our media has the most modern infrastructure, but it doesn’t reflect our voice. We face similar problems in science, culture and the arts. We can’t explain ourselves to the world even when we are right. This is why I’m of the opinion that we have yet to establish our intellectual power. We expect everyone to contribute to our quest for intellectual power,” Erdoğan underlined in a speech.