MÜSİAD Golden Gear International Short Film Festival - Gala
12 April 2025
Esteemed guests, dear young people,
As we all know, culture and art are the elements that can best reflect the identity, the values and the spirit of a nation. Because culture and art, as in every field of life, build a bridge between our past and our future, keep our social memory alive and transmit from generation to generation the values that make us who we are. Therefore they should not be seen merely as a means of entertainment or of passing the time.
Among the branches of art, cinema in particular holds a privileged position in terms of its power and its impact in reaching the masses. With the combination of visual and auditory elements, it is the branch of art that makes emotions felt most deeply and that tells human stories most effectively. Beyond being merely a means of entertainment, cinema also has a strategic role in introducing our cultural values to the world and in strengthening our country's image in the international arena.
When we look from this perspective, we can see that the power of cinema to become an industry and to produce economic value is also extremely important. Especially over the last twenty years, the Turkish cinema sector has shown significant development.
Our cinema sector, which at the beginning of the 2000s had a relatively limited influence in the international arena, has today risen to a position that reaches millions of viewers worldwide and makes considerable contributions to our economy.
At the beginning of the 2000s, the number of films and TV series produced in Türkiye was rather limited. However, as of 2024, the Turkish TV series sector has achieved great success by exporting more than 300 productions to over 150 countries.
Turkish TV series exports, which stood at approximately 10 million dollars in 2008, reached 350 million dollars in 2018. As of 2024, this figure has exceeded 500 million dollars. These data show that a fiftyfold increase has taken place in our sector's export revenues.
Turkish TV series are watched across a wide geography, above all in the Middle East, Latin America, the United States of America, Australia and Europe. With the effect of digital platforms as well, Turkish productions have reached approximately 1 billion viewers worldwide.
By introducing our cultural values and our way of life in the international arena, Turkish TV series increase interest in our country. This interest has also been reflected positively in the tourism sector, and the locations where the series were shot have become frequent destinations for foreign tourists. From an economic point of view, the revenues obtained from series and film exports contribute to reducing our country's current account deficit.
The representatives of our sector aim to increase export revenues even further in the coming years. In particular, plans to open up to large markets such as China will play an important role in the realization of these goals.
Ultimately, with the development it has shown over the last twenty years, the Turkish cinema and TV series sector has made great contributions to our country in both the cultural and the economic fields. In order for these achievements to continue and to increase, we must continue to support our sector.
Speaking of support, I think it is necessary to touch upon one point in particular. The support that our Ministry of Culture and Tourism provides to the cinema sector is also noteworthy. In 2023, a total of TRY 145 million of resources was provided to cinema projects. This support increases the competitive power of our sector in the national and international arena and contributes to the realization of new projects.
We too are doing our utmost in order to contribute to this support.
When we look at this whole picture, we can see that, besides the role of the art of cinema in keeping our cultural values alive and in spreading them, its contribution to our economy is also extremely important. Cinema both transmits our cultural heritage to future generations and gives momentum to our economic growth. For this reason it is of great importance that the investments made in and the support given to the cinema sector should continue and increase.
Let us not forget that a strong cultural and artistic infrastructure is one of the cornerstones of a strong society. The value and the support we give to the art of cinema will increase both the cultural richness and the economic prosperity of our country.
Esteemed guests, dear participants,
Cinema is at the forefront of the branches of art that tell the story of societies in the best and the most effective way. As MÜSİAD, we too decided to organize the MÜSİAD Golden Gear Film Festival in order to support young filmmakers and to reveal the power of the short film.
We wanted the issues of these lands to be taken up and our own stories to be told. We wanted our culture, our identity and our values to come to the fore through cinema.
As MÜSİAD, we lived and experienced this beautiful excitement for three days. We watched and evaluated the films competing in a total of five areas, in the categories of National Short Film, Student Short Film, International Short Film, Documentary and Artificial Intelligence Film.
God willing, our valued friends who have come to the fore with their talent will continue to produce successful works in the future as well. We too will try to support young talents as much as we can.
In this respect, it is our greatest wish that this festival, of which we have organized the first, may continue throughout the coming years.
We invite you as well to share this excitement and to support this important festival, which we hope will be a means for the emergence of the directors of the future, of the good filmmakers of the future and of the actors of the future.
Finally, I thank everyone who has contributed to the formation process of the festival, above all our Festival President Mr. Sadettin Budak. I also thank all the members of the jury, the sector representatives who provided support and the members of our press.
As I complete my words, I respectfully greet you all.
May God protect you.
Mahmut Asmalı
President of MÜSİAD