NEWS

The “Ülker Children’s Cinema Festival” Project

In creating projects that are child-oriented, Ülker’s “Children First” approach toward social responsibility is the inspiration that initially led to the idea of presenting the country’s children with a free day at the movies.  The timing of the event was considered to be as important as the event itself, so the concept was eventually developed and scheduled to coincide with the annual April 23rd National Sovereignty and Children’s Festival.  This also illustrated the importance that the Ülker brand gave to the national holiday.  Ülker is the first and only brand name to attempt such an undertaking.   

The “Ülker Children’s Cinema Festival” project, which began in 2008, has been hosted by the organization each year since then.  The “Ülker Children’s Cinema Festival” has become the country’s most far-reaching social responsibility project.  Under the project, in every corner of Türkiye, Ülker makes it possible for children in many centers to watch the same film on the same day, at the same time throughout Türkiye. In the four years since the festival began, it has reached 510,000 children, about 8% of whom had never been in a movie theater before.

• 1st year of the project: 125 thousand children watched the film, “Nim’s Island”. In its first year, 2008, the project was organized in 33 provinces and the Republic of Northern Cyprus. On the April 19 and 20, 165,000 people, 125,000 of whom were children, were treated to a day at the movies and watched “Nim’s Island”. As the happy children came out of the theaters, they were presented with gifts.  Immediately thereafter, telephones in the Customer Services Unit began to ring and countless emails and letters of thanks began to arrive.  All of the feedback was the same.  Everyone who called or wrote wanted to thank Ülker for their wonderful gift. The most touching calls and e-mail massages came from those who had never had a chance to see a movie in a theater before.  One reason that the project has been continued is because of the messages of gratitude and excellent feedback that have been received each year.  

• 2nd year of the project: 130,000 children watched the film, “The Secret of the Moonacre”. Children who attended enjoyed the project and want it to continue. As a social responsibility project it was very successful and it exceeded all expectations. The new goal of the project became to expand the festival and to reach even more children.  In 2009, 133 movie theaters and 1,345 auditoriums in 49 provinces participated.  The number of children who watched the film reached 130,000.  The film, “The Secret of the Moonacre”, told the story of 13 year-old Maria and was intended to appeal to the children’s imaginations.

• 3rd year of the project: 140 thousand children watched the film, “AstroBoy”: By 2010 the festival had become a corporate project that was known as the Ülker Children’s Cinema Festival. That year the film was shown in 158 theaters and 1,570 auditoriums in 50 provinces, to audiences totaling 140,000 children.    

• 4th year of the project: 110 thousand children watched the film, “Alpha & Omega”: In 2011, the film was shown in 157 theaters in 55 provinces to audiences totaling 110,000 children.

Project numbers for the last four years