With growing political tension and social unrest, it a difficult time to film in Turkey. In the past however, Istanbul has been a popular international filming location, recently hosting production on Inferno, The Night Manager and The Water Diviner.
Bond movie Skyfall set its entire pre-credits sequence in Turkey, staging a motorcycle chase across the rooftops of Istanbul and through the Grand Bazaar. The shoot then relocated to the majestic Varda Viaduct to film a fight between Bond and a villain on the roof of a moving train.
Sonny London also spent a week filming on a cargo ship off the coast of Istanbul for a new campaign marking Heineken’s sponsorship of the UEFA Champion’s League and Tangerine Films and FPS Productions shot a new campaign for Canon cameras in Istanbul.
Bursa was finally chosen ahead of the other options due to the diversity and its access to Istanbul, the hub of the film industry. We got tremendous help from the military - the first time that they have helped a non-Turkish production - and also from the local airport which we filmed in for two days free of charge. All in all we got wonderful support from the local Mayor’s office.
Alex Sutherland, AZ Celtic Films
Western Turkey, on the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts, has a Mediterranean climate, while temperatures in Ankara, further inland, range from
-4C to 30C.
The east of the country is at a higher elevation and although the summers remain warm winters can be bitterly cold and this can cause road disruption because of heavy snowfall.
Winter is the wettest time of year and falls between about October and April, while the Black Sea coast tends to get the highest annual rainfall. This is the only part of the country to get rain all year round.
