Ataturk Films: 6 Ataturk Films That Make Us Look to The Past With Longing

atatürk filmleri

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of Republic of Turkiye; one of the most important leaders and political personalities in the history of the world who has spent his whole life to the fullest and has run from success to success. Because of the importance that Atatürk has, he is becoming a very difficult character to handle in the cinema. Nevertheless, Ataturk’s films come to the fore from time to time in the cinema of our country, and our leader is portrayed by successful actors. In addition to the films about Atatürk’s life, we can also get the chance to watch Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in the films that tell about the periods of the First World War and the War of Independence. If you are ready, let’s take a closer look at our list of Ataturk films together.


6) Dersimiz: Atatürk – Lesson:Atatürk (2010) | IMDb: 6.3

dersimiz atatürk

  • Director: Hamdi Alkan
  • Cast: Halit Ergenc, Cetin Tekindor, Batuhan Karacakaya

Dersimiz: Atatürk, written by Turgut Ozakman, one of the famous writers of our country, is a film that covers the life of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk for a long time. Does the movie really make children learn Ataturk correctly? He’s looking for the answer to his question. It is also primary school 5. we can also say that it is about the homework of a group of children studying in the classroom.

This assignment, which is given to children to better understand Atatürk, is becoming a unique history lesson for children. The award-winning historian, the grandfather of one of the children, is giving our lesson. Unlike classical historians, our grandfather devoted himself to telling children about Atatürk’s life in a fun way.

Starting from Atatürk’s childhood and telling about all his victories and humanitarian aspects, Dede also introduces the children to the heroes of the Turkish people during the war and the founding of the Republic. At the same time, the film uses real historical videos and visuals. In this way, Dersimiz: Atatürk, which reinforces the narrative thoroughly, becomes a movie where you can learn useful information about Atatürk.


5) Çanakkale 1915 (2012) | IMDb: 6.4

çanakkale 1915 atatürk

  • Director: Yeşim Sezgin
  • Cast: Sevket Coruh, Baris Cakmak, Ilker Kizmaz

Çanakkale 1915 actually is not exactly among Atatürk’s films. However, the movie hosts many scenes in which Atatürk is revived with the events it tells. The downside of this movie, for which Turgut Özakman wrote the script, is that it tries to fit the entire Battle of Çanakkale into one movie.

In fact, the film is not limited to the Battle of Gallipoli, but starts from the year the war first broke out to tell the events. In the film, which tells the story of the war through two soldiers who participated in the Battle of Çanakkale, we watch Atatürk a lot.

In fact, the scene of Atatürk being shot in the chest is also handled in the movie. Although Çanakkale 1915 is generally criticized for extreme nationalism and humiliation of other nations, it appears as a historical film that both portrays Mustafa Kemal Atatürk close to reality and gives a lot of room to the heroism of the Turkish people.


4) Mustafa (2008) | IMDb: 6.7

mustafa film

  • Director: Can Dundar
  • Cast: Bahadır Yazıcı, Burak Onaran, Ediz Mehmedali

Mustafa, the second documentary by Can Dündar about Atatürk’s life, deals with Atatürk’s entire life, starting from his childhood. The documentary/film deals with Atatürk’s life, away from the official language, starting from the years when Atatürk was only “Mustafa”. He does this in a sincere and unofficial language.

For this reason alone, Mustafa was heavily criticized and examined. Examining the periods of Atatürk’s life full of adventure and heroism, which began in Thessaloniki, away from glory and glory, Mustafa comes across as a production that is quite apt to be misunderstood even in this respect alone.

No matter how much a leader means to a society, it is also a human being who reminds us that this leader is signed by Mustafa and Mel Gibson’s documentaries/films such as ‘The Passion of the Christ’ give us the opportunity to get to know these leaders better and feel them closer.


3) Veda – Farewell (2010) | IMDb: 7.2

veda atatürk filmi

  • Director: Zulfu Livaneli
  • Cast: Sinan Tuzcu, Serhat Mustafa Kılıç, Dolunay Soysert

Atatürk film written and directed by Zülfü Livaneli, Farewell is a film compiled from the memories of Atatürk’s childhood and his comrade in arms, Salih Bozok. Unable to bear the death of Atatürk, his closest friend in life, “ The Commander-in-Chief cannot go without an aide.” Salih Bozok, who shot himself with his words and survived because the bullet grazed his heart, is also known as the most loyal name to Atatürk.

In the film, the period from the meeting of Salih Bozok and Atatürk to the establishment of the Republic of Turkey and the death of Atatürk is told. In this film, in which Atatürk is brought to the screen in some special moments of his life, the letter that Salih Bozok wrote to his son Muzaffer conveys to us the unknown aspects of Atatürk and his memories that have not come to light before.

The friendship between Salih Bozok and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, which started in Thessaloniki in the 1890s and lasted for almost half a century due to Atatürk’s untimely death, has brought us many values and teaches us many things about friendship and fellowship even in our current life.


2) Cumhuriyet – Republic (1998) | IMDb: 8.4

cumhuriyet atatürk filmleri

  • Director: Ziya Oztan
  • Cast: Rutkay Aziz, Savas Dincel, Hülya Aksular

Cumhuriyet film, which is the continuation of the 6-part Kurtuluş mini-series published in the 90s in TRT, is one of the most successful films in the Atatürk films category. Cumhuriyet, one of the biggest budget productions of the period, deals with the struggle of the newly established Republic of Turkey to survive after the war from the mid-1920s to the end of the 1930s and, naturally, the political and national struggle of Atatürk for Turkey.

One of the reasons why the movie “Cumhuriyet – Republic” is so important that it tells the historical events that took place in the period when the republic was newly established, by blending it with the life of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. In this way, the film is neither a history documentary nor just a biography. Especially Atatürk’s marriage to Latife Hanım and his relations with his staff save the film from monotony. We mentioned that the movie Cumhuriyet deals with historical events in the early republican period.

During this period, rebellions of the opponents of the republic broke out in the country. On the other hand, in international relations, Atatürk and his staff were struggling for the solution of the straits and Hatay issues. When we look at the Atatürk films in general, the screenplay of the movie Cumhuriyet, which flows under the leadership of Rutkay Aziz, one of the most successful figures portraying Atatürk, is entrusted to Turgut Özakman.


1) Sarı Zeybek (1993) | IMDb: 8.5

sarı zeybek

  • Director: Can Dundar

Sarı Zeybek is mentioned as the most historically accurate Atatürk movie/documentary in which Atatürk is told with real images. The film hosts footage that has not been made available to the public before. Sarı Zeybek successfully conveys the last 300 days of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s life to us. Naturally, when it comes to Atatürk’s last days, Sarı Zeybek is extremely emotional.

This documentary, dated November 10, 1993, features the last images of Atatürk. In addition to these, many questions are answered in the documentary, including why and how Atatürk got sick, how the diagnosis was delayed, and how the treatment was administered. In the light of the memories of people close to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, answers to many questions are sought.

The story, brought together with images of Atatürk that we have not seen before, takes us on a nostalgic journey. Even the scenes in the documentary where Atatürk plays zeybek with his knees on the ground in order not to display a weak image despite his illness are enough to fill our eyes.


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Kategoriler: Movies & Series

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