'Bergen' has marked the first-ever Turkish movie to get a theatrical release across Saudi Arabia.
Vox Cinemas has reported strong ticket sales for the Turkish film Bergen, which it has distributed across the MENA region.
The biopic debuted in cinemas on 16 June and marked the first Turkish movie to get a theatrical release in Saudi Arabia.
The movie performed better in its second weekend versus opening, with a staggering 674% increase in ticket sales. Bergen has also outperformed the Turkish Oscar entry Miracle in Cell No. 7 by 376%, which had been the most successful Turkish movie to date, and is in the top five movies across Saudi cinemas this week.
Speaking about the success of the movie, Toni El Massih, Managing Director of Majid Al Futtaim Cinemas, said: “Vox Cinemas is extremely excited to distribute Bergen across the MENA region, particularly in Saudi Arabia where it marks the first Turkish movie to be shown in the cinema. We are committed to bringing a diverse slate of movies to the big screen that represents the world we live in. The performance of Bergen is proof that audiences in this region have an appetite for it. The release of this movie marks an important moment in Saudi Arabia and the fact that its performance has increased significantly in its second weekend is exceptional. I encourage movie-lovers to catch this biopic at the cinema while they still can.”
Written by Yıldız Bayazıt and Sema Kaygusuz, the movie has been produced by Mine Şengöz.
Bergen is the true-life story of the eponymous singer and her transformation from a promising cello player to a world-famous singer. Known as “The Queen of Arabesque”, she garnered a cult following and fought to continue performing despite enduring a violent relationship with her husband. Directed by Caner Alper, Bergen stars Farah Zeynep Abdullah in the lead role. It was selected as the opening film at the Turkiye-Germany Film Festival earlier this year, where it received rave reviews.
