Surge of films on Gallipoli Campaign

This week’s release of ‘Çanakkale Çocukları’ (The Children of Gallipoli) is just the beginning of a surge of films focusing on the Gallipoli Campaign of 1915

The Gallipoli Campaign, or the Battle of Çanakkale, is at once one of the most tragic battles of the 20th century and one of the greatest victories of modern Turkey. The attack of the Allied Forces in World War I to capture the Dardanelles, (the Çanakkale Strait), resulted in a huge defeat and lead to the death of more than 130,000 Turkish, British, French, Australian, New Zealand and Indian troops in eight months.

The campaign helped the Turks regain a confidence that would eventually inspire the Turkish War of Independence and the founding of modern Turkey eight years later. The centenary of the Gallipoli Campaign is just around the corner, and moviemakers look set to cash in on the nationalist tendencies invading Turkish cinema and TV screens in recent years.

Most of the recent historical dramas are examples of crude nationalism, most clearly seen in the recent box office smash Fetih 1453 (Conquest 1453) - an epic tale of the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople - or the hit TV series Muhteşem Yüzyıl (Magnificent Century), depicting the power games in the 16th century court of Süleyman the Magnificent. Even the upcoming adaptation of the 1960s comic book Karaoğlan features a young Turkic hero during the reign of Genghis Khan in 12th century Central Asia.

It is therefore no surprise that a big production on the Gallipoli Campaign is hitting theaters this week and another is on its way in less than a month. Çanakkale Çocukları (Children of Gallipoli) is directed by popular filmmaker Sinan Çetin. More a one-man-show than an auteur, Çetin directs, produces, writes and is the cinematographer of the war drama, while his wife and two sons star.

Click here for full article (Hürriyet Daily News)