During the 1980s, Turkish films continued to win acclaim. One of the many films was "Sürü" (The Herd) which played for 8 weeks in Zurich and 7 weeks in Basel. At the "London Film Festival", it was chosen the best from 93 films. At the "Rotterdam Festival", film critics chose it as one of the year's best three films, and at the 10th International Antwerp Film Festival it was again given the "Best Film" award. "Düsman" (The Enemy), a film in which Yilmaz Güney and Zeki Okten collaborated, is a story about unemployment and workers' problems and it won the International Catholic Film Organization's first prize and the "Special Jury” award at the 30th Berlin Film Festival. Ali Ozgentürk's "Hazal" which depicted village life and the drama of the lives of village women-folk, won five awards in a row. "Bereketli Topraklar Uzerinde" (On Fertile Lands) produced by Erden Kiral won the "Special Jury Prize" at the Nantes Film Festival in France, was presented with another award by the Elal Crance Cinematheque Association and was awarded yet another prize at the Strasbourg European Film Festival, a year later, in 1981. A film by Omer Kavur depicting the world of a child and told touchingly and exuberantly was given the "Grand Prize" at the International Milan Film Exhibition.

In 1981, after an interval of two years, the 18th Antalya Film Festival was held, but no films were considered worthy of the top prize.

In 1982, Yilmaz Güney and Serif Goren's film "Yol" (The Road) was chosen as the best film at the 35th Cannes Film Festival, together with Costa Gavros' film "Missing", and shared the "Golden Palm" award. In France, at the Hyrres Cinema Festival, Sinan Cetin's "Bir Günün Hikayesi" (The Story of a Day) won the "Grand Peoples' Jury Award". Ali Ozgentürk's "At" (The Horse) was placed third at the Valencia Mediterranean Countries' Film Festival, and at the 1983 Lecce International Film Festival in Italy it received the "Best Film Prize".

In 1983, Serif Goren's film "Derman", depicting the revolt of women over male domination in Turkish villages won the "Jury Award" at the Valencia Film Festival. It was during this year that films relating to the identity of women took on new dimensions. More Turkish Films Weeks were organized in Kuwait and Budapest. The same year Erden Kiral's film "Hakkari'de bir Mevsim" (A Season in Hakkari), which dealt with the problems and efforts of an intellectual, who for the first time is confronted with regional problems, won five awards in a row at the 33rd Berlin Film Festival. Later the same year, it won yet another award at the "Corsica 2nd Mediterranean Cultural Film Festival".

1984 saw the founding of the Film Producers' Association. The same year, A Season in Hakkari was chosen the opening film for the Los Angeles Olympic Games. "Derman" won more awards at the International Film Critics' and International Film Club’s Federation at the 24th Karlovy Vary Festival. At the 3rd Mediterranean Cultural Film Festival, Erden Kiral's "Ayna" (The Mirror) won the "Critics' Award", and "At" (The Horse) won the prestigious award at the Sao Paulo International Film Festival.

1985 was a year when comedy films made some progress, among which was "Zügürt Aga" (The Broken Landlord) by Nesli Colgeçen, adapted from a work by Yavuz Turgul. It was at this time too that the Ministry of Culture initiated a series of competitions for three main branches in the cinema: drama, documentary and animation, offering incentive awards. At the 25th Karlovy Vary Film Festival, Talat Bulut received the "Best Character Actor" award from the Prague Cinema Institute for his portrayal in the film "Derman". The same film won the "Golden Sword" award at the 4th International Damascus Film Festival. At the 4th New German Cinema Film Festival, "Hakkari'de bir Mevsim" (A Season in Hakkari) was chosen as the best film, based on the votes of audiences. At the 35th International Berlin Festival, Tarik Akan was given a "Special Mention" for his portrayal in the film, "Pehlivan" (The Wrestler).

At the 7th International Women's Film Festival in Paris, "Kasik Düsmani" (My Mate), produced by Bilge Olgaç, won the best film award and was also presented with the "French Journalists' Special Press Award". Halil Ergün was chosen best actor by audiences for his role in this film. At the 1st International Tokyo Film Festival, "At" (The Horse) won a $250,000 cash prize. At the New York American Film Festival, a Turco-German production, "Gulibik", won an award presented by the Educational Film Library Association. While in Portugal, "Ayna" (The Mirror) won the grand prize at the International Eiguera Fox Film Festival. Süha Arin's short film "Kapaliçarsida Kirkbin Adim" (Forty Thousand Steps at the Grand Bazaar) won the Jury's Award of Honor at the Tourism Film Festival in Vienna.

In Turkey, the Istanbul Culture and Art Foundation arranged a special series of days devoted to the cinema.

In 1986 steps were taken in search of innovations in the cinema which resulted in some 20 high quality films that invigorated Turkish cinema and once more drew audiences. The government passed new laws on cinema, video and music.

In 1988, the Cinema Actors' Association was founded. During the 7th International Istanbul Cinema Week, the Eczacibasi Foundation Award was presented to Tunç Basaran for the film "Biri ve Digerleri" (One and the Others). The 1st Ankara Film Festival was organized and at the first film contest arranged for the purpose of promoting the younger generation of directors and producers, Orhan Oguz's film "Her Seye Ragmen" (Despite Everything) was chosen the best film. At the 5th European Film Festival in Italy the same year, the jury for the Critics’ Award selected this film. Prior to this, the same film had been awarded the "Youth Prize " at the Cannes Film Festival. At the 36th San Sebastian Film Festival,  Yavuz Turgul's film "Muhsin Bey" (Mr. Muhsin) won the "Special Jury” Prize.  At the 37th International Mannheim Film Festival, the film "Her Seye Ragmen" (Despite Everything) won the grand cash prize. At the Amiens Film Festival in France Hülya Koçyigit was chosen the best actress for her part in the film "Bez Bebek" (The Rag Doll) by Engin Ayça. Films by Yilmaz Güney and other Turkish films were features of Turkish Cinema Weeks in Paris and Ottawa.

In 1989 Tunç Basaran's "Uçurtmayi Vurmasinlar" (Don't Let Them Shoot the Kite) film won awards at the Cannes Film Festival, and also at the Valencia Mediterranean Festival where it won the second prize and also the "Don Quixote" award of the International Cinema Club's Federation. At the Valencia festival Zülfü Livaneli won the "Golden Palm" award for his film "Sis" (Fog). This award was shared with Goran Markovitch for his film "Meeting Point". At the Montpeiller Mediterranean Film Festival "Sis" (Fog) also won the "Golden Antigone Award". Yildiz Kenter won the "Best Actress" award at the "Corsica Bastia Film Festival" for the part in Halit Refig's film "Hanim" (Lady). At the Nantes Film Festival of Three Continents, Reha Erdem's film "A Ay" (Ah, the Moon) shared second place with the film "Finzan". Tarlabasi, Tarlabasi" by Hilmi Etkiner won the special Vaud Canton Architects' and Engineers' Chamber Award at Lausanne and Süha Arin won a "Special Jury Prize" there for his film "Dünya Durdukça" (Till Eternity).

In 1990 Halit Refig's film, “Women's Jail” won five awards together with the Golden Orange award at the 27th Antalya Film Festival.  Yusuf Kurçenli's “Blackouts”, which received “The Best Turkish Film” award at the International Istanbul Film Festival, also won the special jury prize at the 35th International Film Festival held in Valladolid, Spain. At the 10th International Istanbul Film Festival, the film the "Two Headed Giant" won the special jury prize, and "The Best Film" award at the 45th Yunus Nadi Award Festival. The director of the film Orhan Oguz was chosen 'Best Director for Visual Effects" for the 1990-1991 season of scenarists.

The film "My Cinemas" directed jointly by Füruzan and Gülsün Karamustafa received the special jury prize at the International Faejr Film Festival in Iran. 'Berdel' by Atif Yilmaz received the CICAC award at the 41st International Berlin Cinema Festival.

In 1991 Omer Kavur's film "Hidden Face" received the Best Film, the Best Scenario (Orhan Pamuk), the Best Actor (Fikret Kuskan), the Best Music at score (Cahit Berkay), the Best Film Editing (Mevlüt Koçak) awards at the 28th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival and also the Best Film award at the 20th Montreal Film Festival in Canada, Critics' award at the Bastia Mediterranean Film Festival and the International Art and Trial Cinema Confederation. 'Piano Piano Kid' by Tunç Basaran won the Best Film Awards at the 10th International Istanbul Film Festival, the 17th Frankfurt Film Festival and the Isfahan International Golden Butterfly award and was found worthy of the CIFEJ award presented in the name of UNICEF, by the Canada Youth and Children's Film Centre. 'Imdat and Zarife' directed by Nesli Colgeçen, won the Grand Prize at the Canary Islands International Environment Nature Films Festival.

General Outlook

For many years, Turkish films lacked the necessary order and legal measures which were needed to enter international markets, which was also due to the inability to meet international standards in the way of technology.

During the 1914-1939 period, only two cinema studios were active, and the number of films produced, exclusive of short-subject films and documentaries, barely reached 23. In the 1940s, five other film studios entered the market, and in 1949, the number of films produced reached 19.

Towards the end of the 1950s, 16 more new studios were opened and by the 1960s, expansion gained impetus. In the 1970s this expansion reached inflationary proportions with corresponding negative effects. In 1980, the quantity of films suddenly dropped to 68, and towards the end of the 1980s, it rose again.

Turkish films made their impression on international markets and began to win prizes and awards with realistic and better quality films, so the industry began to win back its old audiences. As a result, not only did the number of cinema-goers begin to increase, but so did investment and state interest. But the question of compatibility with the Islamic ethics still stands; nudity and other western morals are shown in the Turkish movies to express the denial of the Islamic morality.