‘Atatürk 1881-1919’ premieres at AKM

ISTANBUL

The premiere of the movie “Atatürk 1881-1919,” starring actor Aras Bulut İynemli as Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, was held at Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM) on Oct. 23.

On the other hand, the costumes used in the movie were exhibited in the building.

Actor İynemli, who plays the role of Atatürk in the movie, expressed his excitement, saying, “I am in a project with a very big responsibility. We told the story of one of the world's greatest and most respected leaders. I had the chance to play the youth of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk on the 100th anniversary of the Republic. I had only one motivation, to deserve this role. We worked really hard. We are here at the end of a two and a half years of effort. I hope we can show that we did our best.”

Explaining the scene that impressed him the most, İynemli said, “There is a letter that Atatürk wrote to Anzac mothers in 1934. We used that letter at the end of the Gallipoli War. I couldn't recover myself for 15 minutes before shooting that scene. I think this will be seen in the second movie, you will see it there. The movie was originally a six-episode series, but since it turned into two movies.”

Actress Songül Öden, who plays Atatürk’s mother Zübeyde Hanım, said, “It was a very exciting process for me. I was afraid and hesitant at first. If I had not accepted this job, I would have been very upset. I'm very happy to be a part of this team. I can say that I have a job in my life that I will carry like an epaulet on my shoulders, Atatürk is such a job. The audience will understand what I mean.”

Actor Mehmet Günsür, who plays Atatürk’s father Ali Rıza Efendi, said, “What a great honor to be here with this project on the 100th anniversary of the Republic. It is a great pleasure to do this job with my dear friends.”

Mehmet Ada Öztekin, the director of the film, said, “It was a long, tiring, heavy, very proud and at the same time very responsible project. We tried to do the best we could. We did our best with all my actors, producers and teammates. The final decision will be made by the audience.”

‘Disney’s decision not specific to Türkiye’

Producer Ayar explained the process of the movie, which was planned to be published as a six-episode series on Disney Plus but was later removed from the platform.

Making a statement about Disney's removal of the Atatürk TV series, the producer of the film, Saner Ayar, said, “Disney's decision is not specific to Türkiye. Disney's decision is about stopping local production in all markets except America. Why was there no reaction from any other TV series, but only Atatürk was a matter? This is the greatness of Atatürk. Because all the other TV series produced by Disney in Türkiye are not on the platform, but they have never been discussed. We are talking about a world leader. This is the strategic decision made by Disney all over the world, it is not a decision made specifically for Atatürk, I can tell you that.”

Ayar said that if the movie was on the Disney platform, only members of that platform would be able to watch it but now it will be released in all of Europe, 19 Arab countries, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Vietnam, Korea, Pakistan and possibly China, and in the U.S. after January.

“As of September, it will be broadcast simultaneously on one or more of the world's largest platforms. Then it will be screened by all televisions in the world. We will be tell about Atatürk and his comrades to the whole world. The real problem is this; they don't know Atatürk, but the more they get to know him, the more they will love him. I think this movie will serve this goal,” he added.

Stating that they decided to shoot a movie in 2019, Ayar said, “We prepared the script of the movie. First we signed with HBO. When HBO decided not to produce anything outside of America. Disney asked us to produce the movie for it. So we reached an agreement. When we signed with Disney, we had already spent 65 percent of the budget, we were about to go on set, our cast was complete and our script was ready. We had a really good cooperation with Disney, but because of the international decision, the managers here did not have anything to do.”

The first part of the movie “Atatürk 1881-1919” starts with Atatürk's childhood, telling the story of a leader who became a hero on the road to the War of Independence and changed the fate of both himself and his country.

A special part of the movie “Atatürk 1881-1919” will be screened for the first time on television on Oct. 29. Later, the first part of the movie will be released on Nov. 3, and the second part will be released on Jan. 5, 2024.