‘Ertuğrul 1890’ premieres at gala

ISTANBUL – Anadolu Agency

AA photo

The Turkish-Japanese joint production “Ertuğrul 1890” was released on Dec. 25 in Turkish movie theaters following a gala on Dec. 24 at Istanbul’s Zorlu PSM. 

The head of production for the film, Ömer Faruk Sorak, said it was the biggest project among their international films. 

The movie tells the story of an Ottoman frigate that sank off the coast of Japan, killing hundreds of Ottoman sailors.

The history consultant of the film, Professor İskender Pala, said he had made research and wrote articles on Ertuğrul when he was working for the Naval Forces and that he had been pleased when the project was offered to him. 

“Despite my busy schedule, I said ‘if Japan has written a script, it should be seen.’ I was very happy when they offered it me. It was hard at first because Japan wrote a script in its own way. We saw that the Turkish side of the script was missing,” he said.

Pala said Japanese people were very thoughtful and came with a very professional team, adding that both countries did their best for the film.

Pala said Turkish history and culture had hundreds of stories that should be filmed. “Each of them is like ‘Ertuğrul.’ These stories should be told to people, especially the youth,” he added.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, Culture and Tourism Minister Mahir Ünal, Istanbul Gov. Vasip Şahin and Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbaş all attended the gala.