Best Turkish history movies

Atatürk II 1881 – 1919 (2024)

Mustafa Kemal had just begun his journey after proving himself in 1915 at the Gallipoli front. He would go on to face major battles on the eastern front against the Russians and later against the British in Syria, ultimately becoming the only Ottoman officer not to lose a battle during WW1. However, despite all his success, he would encounter an unexpected challenge upon his return to Istanbul.

Color Of Victory (2024)

The days when Istanbul was occupied as a result of the Armistice of Mudros after the First World War and the Fenerbahce football team won the "Harington Cup".

Canakkale: End of the Road (2013)

Vali (2009)

Veda - Atatürk (2010)

A friendship started in childhood in Thessaloniki firstly turned into being comrade in arms and then a half-century brotherhood and fraternity following the same ideals until the death upon proclamation of the Republic; Ataturk & Salih Bozok Veda Ataturk (The Farewell Ataturk) is the story of a brotherhood, portrayal of milestones in Ataturk's life and the story of a commander commanding a generation that challenged the death to save the homeland.

The Windmill (1986)

In the last years of the Ottoman Empire, a poor little Anatolian town named Saripinar is hit by a minor earthquake which has neither destroyed nor left it with many casualties. However, a telegraph sent to the central government exaggerates the situation and mentions that the governor of the town has been severely wounded, making the event a nationwide matter.

A Nation Awakens (1966)

Ertem Egilmez's period drama about National Forces in the Turkish War of Independence.

Bandırma Füze Kulübü (2022)

Hürkuş: Göklerdeki Kahraman (2018)

A Republic Song (2024)

During the Turkish artistic revolution of the 1930s, a group of pioneers staged Özsoy Opera, the first opera in the history of Turkish Republic.

The Long Way Home (2013)

Inhospitable at the best of times, the snow-covered mountainscapes of Eastern Anatolia constituted a fatal frontier for many war exiles after the battle of Sarikamish in 1915, and provides a canvas laced with beauty and threat for this bone-chilling survival yarn, the superb debut feature of Alphan Eşeli. Starting out with three characters – a refugee mother and daughter and their grizzled guide – the film traces their daunting trek across this barren terrain to safety, with the Russians encroaching and other stragglers, including a pair of wounded, frostbitten Ottoman soldiers, all orbiting the same burnt-out village they find in their path. Puncturing its aura of ghostly impasse with some shocking narrative reversals, and constantly prickling with the mutual dread of strangers in gruelling extremes, the movie stakes out hugely credible ground next to established Eastern Front war classics (In the Fog, Come and See) while remaining thoroughly its own beast. (Source: LFF programme)

Merhaba Güzel Vatanım (2019)

Biopic of the Turkish poet Nâzim Hikmet.

Shadows and Faces (2010)

Shadows and Faces tells the story of a young girl who is separated from his shadow puppetry performer father during the ethnic conflict between Cypriot Greeks and Cypriot Turks in 1963.

Ankara Yazı: Veda Mektubu (2016)

Eve Giden Yol 1914 (2006)

Last Harem (1999)

A story of the impossible love between one of the Sultan's concubines and one of his eunuchs in a harem at the end of the Ottoman Empire.

Öğretmen Kemal (1981)

Kemal a simple teacher arrives in a remote village to start a new school and teach the young ones, when he gets there he faces a strong opposition to his idea by the village master. Kemal with the help of few villagers tries to fight back the ignorance and oppression to give a hope for the poor people of the village.

Dersimiz: Atatürk (2010)

Tarihci Dede is giving information to a couple of children about Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's success and his way to shape todays Turkey.

Aşkın Zaferi (1974)

Pir Sultan Abdal (1973)

The film tells the story of Pir Sultan Abdal, a famous folk poet in Turkey, who criticized some Ottoman governors, Hizir Pasha in particular and as a result was hung by him.

Yunus Emre: Aşkın Sesi (2014)

7 Husbands for Hurmuz (2009)

Remake of a well-known Turkish musical comedy loved by generations, the film is about the adventures of flirtatious Hurmuz in late 1800's Istanbul. Hurmuz who lives in Taskasap, Istanbul has six husbands in a plot to solve her economic problems. She arranges to meet each of her husbands one day of the week. However, suddenly, she falls in love with the town's doctor whom she meets at her husband's barber shop. The doctor falls in love with her too... But, one night all six husbands come home at the same time, and Hurmuz and Safinaz - Hurmuz's "go-between/accomplice/friend" - find themselves in a series of very awkward yet funny situations.

Zübeyde (2023)

Zübeyde, Mothers and Sons, tells the life of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's mother, Zübeyde Hanim, which begins in Thessaloniki, in the last periods of the Ottoman Empire, and reflects the period until the declaration of the Republic.

Dede Korkut Hikayeleri: Bamsı Beyrek (2017)

Kanije Kalesi (1982)

Soyut Padişah (1989)

Pains of Autumn (2009)

When a nationalistic wealthy landowner's idealist son falls for a non-muslim prostitute, he finds himself in a conflict between his feelings and politics under the shadow of the events of September 6th-7th in 1955, the Istanbul Pogrom.

Abdulhamid Falling (2003)

Bulgar Sadık (1954)

Four Women in a Harem (1965)

Sadık Pasha is a pleasure-loving and pious pasha who lives in a luxurious Ottoman mansion with his three wives. The balance of the mansion, already full of intrigue with three women, is completely disrupted when he wants to take a fourth wife, thinking that he needs to continue his lineage because he has no children.