Blond, blue-eyed and possessed of a boyish charm, Turkish actor Kivanc Tatlitug – a former model – has been called the Middle East’s Brad Pitt. His is the face fronting a new wave of Turkish soap operas and TV sitcoms taking the region by storm. A record 85m Arabs tuned in last year to watch the finale of Noor, in which he stars, and a slew of other Turkish TV series have followed.

Now Turkey’s burgeoning cinema industry is hoping films will be the region’s next big thing. Local films, mainly comedies, are booming – the country produced 70 titles last year, up from 17 in 2004. Turkish films accounted for 60 per cent of the $225m in box office receipts in 2008, from 12 per cent in 2004, despite comprising just 18 per cent of total films released to movie theatres.