This article examines the representation and functional role of folk culture elements in Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s film, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia. The research aims to reveal how tangible and intangible cultural components are reflected through the medium of cinema, and to elucidate their functions in the context of cultural memory transmission across generations. The study employs qualitative research methodology, utilizing the content analysis technique. The universe of the research is defined as New Turkish Cinema, with the subject film serving as the specific sample. The analysis process is fundamentally structured upon Sedat Veyis Örnek’s classification of folk culture, evaluating elements such as setting, architecture, clothing, food culture, folk literature, beliefs, and rituals. While cultural values have historically been transmitted through written, oral, and visual forms, cinema has emerged as a crucial medium for the preservation and dissemination of these values in the age of technological advancement. The dynamic and polyphonic nature of cinema allows it to simultaneously carry ideological, cultural, and artistic fragments. Ceylan’s Once Upon a Time in Anatolia offers a powerful visual narrative reflecting the cultural structure, traditional values, and social relations of the Anatolian countryside, deeply processing folk culture elements and exposing the everyday realities of rural life. The most prominent folk culture elements in the film include oral culture, evidenced by the extensive use of proverbs, idioms, and folk narratives in the villagers’ dialogues. Findings indicate a dense presence of both tangible culture (village life, architecture, cuisine, and traditional attire) and intangible culture (proverbs, idioms, laments, folk music, and religious beliefs). In conclusion, Ceylan’s cinema serves as a visual memory function for the preservation and transmission of Turkish folk culture.

Keywords
Films of Nuri Bilge Ceylan, elements of folk culture, oral tradition