Press Release
Wide Angle - "2006 Season"
WIDE ANGLE REVEALS A MODERN, RARELY SEEN SIDE OF ISLAM IN TURKEY'S TIGERS, PREMIERING AUGUST 22 ON PBS
As it continues its fifth season, WIDE ANGLE travels to Turkey, which sits at the geographic and cultural crossroads of Europe and Asia. By profiling a tight-knit group of successful Muslim businessmen who've earned themselves the name "Anatolian Tigers," Turkey's Tigers uncovers a surprising, entrepreneurial face of Islam rarely seen in American media. "Islam has five pillars; two of the Islamic pillars encourage you to do business," explains Mustafa Karaduman, a pioneer in the design and manufacture of women's clothing made according to strict interpretation of the Koran.
Turkey's Tigers premieres Tuesday, August 22 at 9 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings).
For years, Turkey has been run by a stridently secular business and political elite struggling to align itself with the Western world, while its pious Muslims have been pushed to the political and economic fringes. But now even the most devout Muslims are embracing Western-style capitalism and commerce - and are ascending in Turkish society through both the ballot box and big business. One such entrepreneur is Celal Hasnalcaci, the owner of a jeans factory in the central Turkish city of Kayseri, whose tight-fitting denim styles do not match his pious lifestyle. But like the other Anatolian Tigers in Kayseri, he is able to maintain his religious devotion in the face of Turkey's accelerated assimilation into the global marketplace. Hasnalcaci starts each day with pre-dawn prayers; his wife wears a head scarf; he has a prayer mat and a Koran in his office; and on Fridays he buses all of his employees to the huge new mosque in Kayseri's fast-growing industrial zone.
Mustafa Karaduman, the CEO of Turkey's largest Islamic-style clothing chain, Tekbir Giyim (whose name means "Allah is Great Clothing"), takes his faith one step further, eschewing revealing fashions that conflict with a strict Muslim lifestyle. He would like his multimillion-dollar clothing empire to dress more women in Islamic style, but his hopes are wasted on Turkey's top model, Tu_ba Ozay, who dons the headscarf for the annual Tekbir fashion show, but quickly changes into her own miniskirt afterward.
As Turkey negotiates entry into the European Union, WIDE ANGLE profiles the men at the forefront of an Islamic movement where religious faith seems to flourish side by side with business acumen.
For additional information and photography, visit thirteen.org/pressroom/wideangle or pbs.org/pressroom.
Major funding for WIDE ANGLE is provided by PBS, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Mutual of America Life Insurance Company, Bernard and Irene Schwartz, The Jacob Burns Foundation, Ford Foundation, and the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Foundation.
WIDE ANGLE is a production of Thirteen/WNET New York for PBS. Stephen Segaller is executive producer. Pamela Hogan is series producer. Andy Halper is senior producer. Turkey's Tigers was produced and directed by Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill.
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As it continues its fifth season, WIDE ANGLE travels to Turkey, which sits at the geographic and cultural crossroads of Europe and Asia. By profiling a tight-knit group of successful Muslim businessmen who've earned themselves the name "Anatolian Tigers," Turkey's Tigers uncovers a surprising, entrepreneurial face of Islam rarely seen in American media. "Islam has five pillars; two of the Islamic pillars encourage you to do business," explains Mustafa Karaduman, a pioneer in the design and manufacture of women's clothing made according to strict interpretation of the Koran.
Turkey's Tigers premieres Tuesday, August 22 at 9 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings).
For years, Turkey has been run by a stridently secular business and political elite struggling to align itself with the Western world, while its pious Muslims have been pushed to the political and economic fringes. But now even the most devout Muslims are embracing Western-style capitalism and commerce - and are ascending in Turkish society through both the ballot box and big business. One such entrepreneur is Celal Hasnalcaci, the owner of a jeans factory in the central Turkish city of Kayseri, whose tight-fitting denim styles do not match his pious lifestyle. But like the other Anatolian Tigers in Kayseri, he is able to maintain his religious devotion in the face of Turkey's accelerated assimilation into the global marketplace. Hasnalcaci starts each day with pre-dawn prayers; his wife wears a head scarf; he has a prayer mat and a Koran in his office; and on Fridays he buses all of his employees to the huge new mosque in Kayseri's fast-growing industrial zone.
Mustafa Karaduman, the CEO of Turkey's largest Islamic-style clothing chain, Tekbir Giyim (whose name means "Allah is Great Clothing"), takes his faith one step further, eschewing revealing fashions that conflict with a strict Muslim lifestyle. He would like his multimillion-dollar clothing empire to dress more women in Islamic style, but his hopes are wasted on Turkey's top model, Tu_ba Ozay, who dons the headscarf for the annual Tekbir fashion show, but quickly changes into her own miniskirt afterward.
As Turkey negotiates entry into the European Union, WIDE ANGLE profiles the men at the forefront of an Islamic movement where religious faith seems to flourish side by side with business acumen.
For additional information and photography, visit thirteen.org/pressroom/wideangle or pbs.org/pressroom.
Major funding for WIDE ANGLE is provided by PBS, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Mutual of America Life Insurance Company, Bernard and Irene Schwartz, The Jacob Burns Foundation, Ford Foundation, and the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Foundation.
WIDE ANGLE is a production of Thirteen/WNET New York for PBS. Stephen Segaller is executive producer. Pamela Hogan is series producer. Andy Halper is senior producer. Turkey's Tigers was produced and directed by Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill.
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