Rich archive of Turkish cinema preserved in new center

ISTANBUL

The Turkish Film Archive, operating under the Professor Sami Şekeroğlu Cinema-TV Application and Research Center, has been moved from the Balmumcu campus of Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University (MSGSÜ) to its Bomonti campus.

Noting that some moviegoers and film professionals recently raised concerns about the relocation, Birol Güven, General Director of Cinema at the ministry, said: “There are particular questions regarding the Balmumcu campus. What happened to the nitrate-based films? As the directorate, we are closely monitoring the matter and remain in constant communication with the center.”

Center Director Başak Ürkmez said the center’s temporary archive houses around 120,000 film reels and nearly 100,000 cinema-related artifacts, noting: “This is a massive archive collected over 60 years from film owners, cinemas and various institutions. Moving such a large archive took us nine months. Without losing a single piece, we carefully transported each film under special conditions with expert teams.”

She underlined that the Balmumcu building, constructed in 1974, had suffered structural problems due to later additions, and explained that reports on the condition of the archive and the seismic risks of the building had been submitted to various institutions since 2020. “It was determined that the building had a risk of collapsing. Experts also reported that the archive conditions did not meet international standards, and it needed to be relocated and renewed,” she said.

The archive is a member of the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF), and Ürkmez stated that the relocation was carried out step by step with guidance from international archive experts. “We now have an air-conditioning system that meets international standards. Throughout the process, we never stopped serving copyright holders, film acquisitions, restorations or scanning operations,” she added.

Ürkmez said they aim to gradually renew the 120,000 reels in the archive, which are cataloged according to their acquisition period. She also stressed that the Balmumcu building would soon be demolished.

Ürkmez said the new center will consist of two buildings, one for the institute and another for the archive: “In the new center, we will have a 480-seat cinema hall, a museum on the film industry and a mediatheque. Over the years, a large library and video archive were built here. The mediatheque will be a space for visitors and researchers to access visuals and materials. The construction will be done in two phases. For now, only the educational facilities will be built due to austerity measures, and the archive sections will be added once the budget allows.”

Ürkmez emphasized that the 120,000 reels will be preserved in one place in the new center, adding that the archive building will serve as a museum where visitors can closely observe the collection.

“The Turkish Film Archive has long remained closed, and researchers could not fully access it,” she said. “This created a mystery about the archive, leading to assumptions that it was not being protected properly. In fact, the archive should always be accessible. We documented its condition with expert reports, and it was not up to international standards. Our goal is to elevate the archive to an international level and make it comparable to global archives. Our country needs this.”

She also highlighted the importance of printed materials: “The archive holds nearly 8,000 posters, as well as scripts, personal letters and other unique items. Among the most important are the giant posters known as ‘cinema lanterns,’ once displayed on the facades of movie theaters. We have 13 of these in our collection, while, for instance, the Dutch archive has only three. Finding 13 pieces here is highly significant. When we moved the archive, we found some of these posters in fragments. With support from the Culture and Tourism Ministry, we carried out their restoration, and part of them have been exhibited at the İstanbul Cinema Museum.”

National film archive project planned

Ürkmez said numerous materials were donated by cinema owners and production companies over the past 60 years. These will be displayed in the future museum, along with old projectors in working condition.

Discussing the archive’s climate control system, Ürkmez said: “Climate control of such a large archive is a huge challenge. Nitrate films, for instance, must be stored at 4 degrees Celsius. Other films are kept at 11–12 degrees. Therefore, the system must constantly adjust to the different storage needs. Fire safety is also critical. Nitrate-based films are highly flammable and can explode easily. Other films are also delicate. For this, we have a new special gas system. Experts from Italy conducted tests here, and we even shared the results with the British Film Institute.”

All stages and reports of the relocation process have been shared on the university’s website.

Because nitrate-based films require special conditions, they were moved under the coordination of the General Directorate of Cinema to a newly built archive area in Ankara, where they are now preserved in facilities meeting leading international safety standards.

Following the demolition of the Balmumcu building, the National Film Archive Building Project will be realized.

The new facility will house international-standard film archives, an industrial cinema museum, a mediatheque, training studios and film laboratories.