‘Cinema on Wheels’ brings big screen to children
DİYARBAKIR
A cinema truck traveling across Türkiye as part of the Culture Route Festival has introduced thousands of children to the big screen through the “Cinema on Wheels” project, launched by Türk Telekom in cooperation with the Culture and Tourism Ministry.
The Türkiye Culture Route Festival, which began in Nevşehir on Aug. 2, has reached its 17th stop in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır. The festival offers locals a range of cultural events from concerts and theater performances to exhibitions and children’s activities.
In parallel with the main events, the “Cinema on Wheels” project aims to bring film culture from city centers to rural areas, reaching students who might otherwise have limited access to cultural experiences. Traveling hundreds of kilometers, the truck sets up open-air screenings in small towns and villages, transforming local squares into movie theaters.
After visiting 17 of the country's 81 provinces and numerous districts, the team’s latest stop was Diyarbakır’s Lice district, where children joined in folk dances, sang regional songs and enjoyed live music before settling in for a film under the stars.
Project coordinator Erol Gözen said the team’s goal was to reach children who had never been to a cinema before. “We complete our preparations before sunset, then start with a concert where we sing songs by folk legends like Aşık Veysel and Neşet Ertaş,” he said. “Our audience usually includes whole families — parents and children together. We create interactive concerts and try to form 1,000-person choirs before ending the night with a film screening.”
Gözen added that the joy of watching a film on a big outdoor screen leaves a lasting impression. “We meet children who have never seen a movie theater. So far, we have visited about 140 districts in 17 provinces and reached thousands of children.”
