Location Scouting Dispatch:  Exploring Continental Istanbul

Founded as Byzantium by the Greeks, next came the Persians.  Emperor Constantine the Great made it the Eastern Roman capital (Constantinople). After centuries of Byzantine rule, it was conquered by the Sultan Mehmed II and renamed Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire.

Orhan Pamuk’s memoir “Istanbul” is captivating. It made me anxious to explore “the traces everywhere of a sumptuous culture that had been influenced by the West without having lost its originality or vitality”.

I’ve adopted the good habit of surrounding myself with professionals….not only do they make me look good, they save me considerable time  and hassle. The PandaFilms Production team knows how to show their city…they moved me through the crowded Grand Bazaar in a secret service style net, the guide behind me instructing “Turn left. Turn right”. I was free to shoot whatever caught my eye while always under the careful watch of theirs. We walked this way through a crowded city, averaging eight miles a day. The Grand Bazaar, built in 1455 is the world’s largest and oldest shopping mall. After exploring some of its 4000 shops and passageways, we went up to the equally expansive rooftop, where the opening chase scene from Skyfall was shot.

Istanbul is graced by seventeen luxurious Radisson Hotels properties, on both sides of the Bosphorus. All are ready to take center stage and host film productions. Istanbul's strategic location and booming tourism trade makes it an attractive market--Radisson is expanding, with a goal of 100 hotels by 2030.

For my purposes, I chose the Radisson Istanbul Sultanahmet--a boutique hotel on the Sea of Marmara which flows to the Bosphorus Strait, then into the Aegean Sea. Their attention to detail was appreciated as the somewhat peculiar needs of a working location scout differ substantially from the average tourist. Working or vacationing, they succeed in making the hotel feel like home with an admirable alacrity.

The gentleman in the morning dining room was particularly attentive.  Instead of caffeine, I drink a powdered mushroom concoction.  Anyone who travels with me knows the process is a bit cumbersome, as I need hot water, hot milk, and a third vessel in which to mix and froth.  The first morning he watched.  The second and subsequent mornings he greeted me with my whole set up.  This was a first!

Located at the edge of the old city, the Radisson Istanbul Sultanahmet Hotel is a sanctuary from the bustle and endless flow of the city that bridges continents. Sitting on my small balcony, enjoying the breeze rippling over the Bosphorus, listening to the call to prayer was a nightly reminder of how Islam has shaped the historical as well as the physical landscape of Istanbul.

Just a short walk from the hotel are many of the city’s cultural touchstones.  The city's largest church, the Hagia Sophia, was converted into a mosque, paralleling the many shifts in Turkish history.  Hagia Sophia (“holy wisdom,” in Greek) was built in 537 AD, serving as the Byzantine cathedral of Constantinople. For a brief period in the 1200s, the Crusaders brought Catholicism. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, it was converted to an Ottoman mosque by Mehmed the Conquer—shortly after minarets were added.  After WWI, under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the site became a secular museum of the modern Turkish Republic, honoring it’s Islamic, Greek Orthodox, and Roman Catholic history.  In 2020 it was converted back to a mosque by President Erdogan.

Similarly, in the late Ottoman period Istanbul’s diverse religious fabric included many Jewish and Christian communities which declined due to historical conflicts.  It is a Muslim city, predominantly Sunni, but including other sects, including Sufis, the mystical dimension of Islam.  The 13th century Sufi poet, Rumi founded the Mevlevi order, who meditate as whirling dervishes, with one hand open to the sky to receive grace; one hand to the earth to dispense it.

From the 15th to 19th centuries Topkapi was the court of the Ottoman Empire, replete with treasures, inspiring architecture, sultans, harems, and eunuchs.  I love an evocative location where voices of the past linger.  I was mesmerized by the chanting in the Chamber of the Holy Mantle where the Quran recitation has not stopped in 500 years.

The Byzantine Basilica Cistern, known as the Sunken Palace (Yerebatan Sarayı) is on the same First Hill as Hagia Sophia, just a short walk from the hotel. It was key to Constantinople’s infrastructure, storing 80,000 tons of water for the palace and growing city.  The most famous of its 336 columns are the bases featuring the Roman sculpted Medusa heads—one horizontal, one upside down, to thwart the goddess’ stony gaze.

Up and down the Bosphorus Strait stand the yalilar—historic mansions overlooking the sea.  Of the original 600 yalilar, only 350 or so remain. These “pearls of the Bosphorus” reflect a particular era and architectural style and are an important part of Istanbul’s heritage.  We visited Sait Halim Pasha Yalisi, a 19th century Ottoman mansion which hosts events. Perched on an islet at the southern entrance to the strait, the Byzantine Maiden’s Tower is a World Heritage Site shrouded in legend, purported to have been built by a king to protect his daughter from prophecy.

The strait also brings into perspective the differences between the Asian and European sides of Istanbul. The European side is jam packed with people, the Historical Peninsula, cultural icons—a bustling metropolis. The Anatolian side is calmer, less dense, offering more space for families to live, not dissimilar to NYC’s Manhattan and Long Island. On the Asian side, we walked the shopping district of Bagdat Caddesi, and the cozy neighborhoods of Yeldeğirmeni and Moda, with laidback cafes and shops. Moda is home to the commemorative statue of a street dog that the community adopted. Over the years he was taken in several times but seemed to prefer living on his favorite corner, where he permanently lies on a concrete dog bed.

We also visited Beykoz Kundura Fabrikası - the old shoe factory converted into a film facility. We passed many coffeeshops crowded with men drinking Turkish tea and playing“okey”—a variation on rummy. The streets boast endless hidden passages like Ćeçek Pasaji, with a striking dome above.

The Pera Palace Hotel was built in 1892 to host passengers of the Orient Express. A Belle Époque masterpiece, it was the first hotel to have electricity during the late Ottoman period, and the first to have an elevator, which lifted the likes of Agatha Christie and Ernest Hemingway to their rooms.

Back on the western side of Istanbul, we toured WOM (World of Movies) Film Studios, an enormous new complex in Büyükçekmece, Istanbul, designed to establish Turkey as an intercontinental cinema hub. The region boasts housing for above and below the line and is near posh shopping and beaches.

Closer to the heart of Istanbul, we trekked the hills of Balat, the former Jewish Quarter. It is a vibrant neighborhood with cobbled streets, cafes, and vine-draped brightly colored buildings, evoking California’s bay area. I was equally taken by the colors and textures of Küçükpazar, Istanbul’s gypsy neighborhood.

One of my favorite places was Tarihi Pide Fırını—an old cafe in an unmarked decrepit building…the enormous ancient skylight scatters a muted, sepia tone over aged surfaces, peeling railings, timeworn Turkish flags, and haphazardly stacked boxes, while customers drink tea, their cigarette smoke filtering the light. An evocative location, camera ready.

Built in 1550, the Süleymaniye Mosque is one of the largest historical mosques, located on the Third Hill of Istanbul, within the Historic Peninsula. This impressive Ottoman imperial mosque was commissioned by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.

But what I really needed to experience, since scouting on “Argo” stateside, was the magical, mystical Blue Mosque and it did not disappoint. Built in 1609 its iconic central dome, cascading semi-domes, minarets, and tile work are the classic elements of Ottoman architecture. But the sum of these elements is so much more….a calmness prevails over the visual cacophony of hanging lights and elaborately stenciled paint work. Its 260 windows were originally Venetian glass, most of which have been replaced, filling the prayer hall with natural light. Lamps inside the mosque were once covered with gems and gold. The many hanging chandeliers include ostrich eggs and crystal balls. Its enormity and intricacy is dazzling. It is not a place to hurry away from.

Ç.D. Chad Ozturk, founding partner and Executive Producer at Panda Films, loves the constant duality of Istanbul. “It’s both ancient and modern, chaotic and poetic, East and West. Every corner feels like a ready-made set: centuries-old mosques, palaces and bazaars coexist with sleek architecture and vibrant street life. It’s a city where history breathes, and at the same time, the energy feels completely contemporary”.

Ozturk likens Istanbul to an open-air studio. “You can capture medieval alleyways, waterfront mansions, futuristic skylines, and natural landscapes — all within 30 minutes of each other. The textures, the light, the Bosphorus itself — they give you production value that you can’t recreate on a backlot. Bolstering the visual richness of the city is the infrastructure behind it. Turkey has highly skilled crews, world-class equipment houses, and an industry used to servicing international productions at scale. Add to that a city that can double for anywhere from New York to ancient Rome, and you’ve got one of the most versatile, cost-effective filming hubs in the world”.

From an architectural, cultural and historical perspective, I concur with Napoleon’s alleged proclamation: “If the Earth were a single state, Istanbul would be its capital”.

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