02-11-2008

Mustafa takes box office crown

By Deniz Ziya Temeltas
    Mustafa, a 115-minute documentary about the founder of the modern Turkish Republic, led the box office charts on its opening day.

    Attendance reached 150,026 on 206 screens with 196 copies.

    Director Can Dundar introduced the political icon with an humanistic touch, telling the story of Mustafa Kemal from his childhood days in Thessalonica to Dolmabahce, Istanbul avoiding military and political angles but rediscovering the national and world leader for the average Turk.

    The film is based not only on public records but also the records of the Presidential Palace, the archives of Joint Military HQ, and Mustafa Kemal's private correspondence creating a record which Ataturk himself narrated himself on his 70th birthday.

    Can Dundar's earlier film Yellow Zeybek was also popular with Turkish TV viewers in recent years.