Türkiye's Culture Ministry demands money back from applauded film Burning Days
Burning Days (Kurak Günler) is not going without a hurdle on premiere across the country on December 9. In a joint statement published today, screenwriter and director Emin Alper, and producer Nadir Öperli, stated that the Ministry of Culture and Tourism wants their money back as changes to the script were not deemed appropriate.
The movie, telling the story of a young prosecutor appointed to a small town troubled political and water crisis crises, premiered on May 23 at the 75th Cannes Film Festival and won several awards at the Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, one of Türkiye's most prestige festivals.
Besides the recent commotion, its associate producer Çiğdem Mater was sentenced to 18 years of prison along with other activists and prominent philanthropist Osman Kavala in connection with the 2013 Gezi Park protests.
Script changes and censorship
In their letter, Alper and Öperli invited the audience to watch "Burning Days" by buying tickets in cinemas on its premiere in cinemas across Türkiye on December 9 and lashed out against the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, accusing them of censorship.
"The General Directorate of Cinema of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, in a letter sent to us, stated that they want their financial production support given to our project called "Burning Days" back with legal interest. .. The decision was taken because the changes we made in the script during the project development process were not deemed appropriate... This is a decision taken 20 months after we submitted the final version of the script, which includes all the changes, to the General Directorate of Cinema.
"Scenarios change from the moment they are written to the shooting day, during the project development process, on the set during the shooting, and finally in the editing. The opposite is against the nature of things. Unfortunately, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, with a regulation change in 2019, is able to censor our works on the pretext of following the changes in our scenarios.
The 2019 regulation change
In 2019 multiple new regulations were passed in Türkiye to stimulate and reform the movie sector. One of these changes stipulates that new films should first be evaluated and classified before being allowed to be broadcasted or shown in theaters. Films not classified or evaluated are only allowed to be screened at festivals and screenings with an x-rated symbol. (WM/VK)