Spanish-speakers in the United States are no exception: they have also fallen in love with the “dizi”, the Turkish series that have millions of people hooked on their long, heartfelt, and abundant stories in outdoor scenes.
“Turkish dramas are written and produced with a keen sense of the importance of emotions and the feelings they provoke. Emotions are universal, but the way we express them is culturally specific,” says Carolina Acosta-Alzuru, a professor at the Grady School of Journalism and Mass Communications, University of Georgia.
For this Venezuelan researcher, author of books such as “Telenovela inside” (2015), both in the Hispanic culture and in the Turkish culture, emotions are expressed “shamelessly”.
Hence, US Latinos connect “immediately with Turkish dramas, “ says the author of “Venezuela is a telenovela. “
THE CHARM OF THE DIZI GENERATES NEW PLATFORMS
Francheska León de La Barra, regional marketing manager for Kanal D Drama, which this month launched the first independent subscription streaming service (SVOD) entirely dedicated to Turkish series dubbed into Spanish, points out that the United States is, for now, number 1 in subscriptions.
Chile, the country in America where the boom of Turkish series was felt before and which previously imported and dubbed them into Spanish, is number two and Spain, fourth, according to the executive.
The new service, designed especially for those who do not have pay-TV, is available in Latin America, Spain, and the United States and offers unlimited access from multiple devices to a growing library of complete series and daily premieres from Monday to Friday in “neutral Spanish” “.
In a statement, León de La Barra points out that Turkey is a superpower of audiovisual creation, so much so that it is the largest exporter in the world after the United States, and its productions enjoy great acceptance among Spanish-speakers.
When asked why this is the case, the head of marketing for Kanal D Drama for the US and Latin America affirms that one of the main attractions is being able to get to know a different culture and the beauties of a country with few references in the world. Hispanic world and also do it with images of high audiovisual quality and an abundance of scenes shot outdoors.
The production cost of the “dizi” is higher than those of television series in other countries, he emphasizes.
“The important role and respect for the mother of the family in Turkish series”, a reflection of that culture, is something that also connects well with us, he adds.
NOBODY CAN RESIST THEM
Large streaming platforms, such as Netflix, have also succumbed to the allure of the Turkish series. “50 m2”, “Fatma” and “Masum” are some examples.
The “dizi”, which have a varied theme from teenage stories to period dramas about the Ottoman Empire, has become Turkey’s first export cultural asset and their great impact has led to investigations of all kinds.
In Spain, these series arouse passions, especially among women, as has not been seen since the arrival of the first Venezuelan “soap operas” in the 90s.
The actor Kerem Burcin, the protagonist of “Love is in the Air”, had to be protected by the police upon his arrival in Gran Canaria (Spain) from women wearing matching shirts and armed with their cell phones to get a photo with him They greeted him with shouts and applause.
As a sign of his popularity, suffice it to say that Burcin has ten million followers on Instagram.
Acosta-Alzuru believes that one of the great attractions of Turkish series is that they give the viewer the opportunity to delight in stories with a theme that “is familiar to them, such as love, family or the battle between good and evil” and “The New and Exotic: Turkish Rituals, Food, and Landscapes.”
Every year, according to a report published by the Daily Sabah newspaper, 25% of imported fiction content worldwide comes from Turkey, with around more than 100 series sold to 156 countries.
The report indicates that Turkish series are displacing Latin American productions such as telenovelas from Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, or Venezuela.
León de la Barra emphasizes that Turkish productions have not come to “harm” Latin American soap operas, which have “very particular stories and styles”, but rather provide a new narrative and transport the viewer “to what Turkey is.”
“What fault is Fatmagul?” It was the first Turkish series to reach Latin American screens, specifically Chile, in 2014.