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Ottoman's Exile
“All cultures sustain themselves for a while, and then end. For instance,
ancient Egyptians were there for ten thousand years. Then came the Romans and
ruled for 1500 years. Then we came and ruled for 700 years. The English came,
and ruled for 120 years. Each civilization, each kingdom experiences a rise, and
then a fall.”
This is how Ertuğrul Osman, the 94-year old leader of the Ottoman dynasty
comments on the end of the Ottoman Empire, which became a thing of the past
along with all other empires at the end of World War I.
The Ottoman Empire covers a 700-year long period of our history. Moreover, the
Ottoman dynasty is the longest living dynasty on earth. The final phase of the
Ottoman Empire is a period not studied through an objective eye till today,
Turkish Radio and Television Corporation decided to make a documentary and
realized it as a co-production of EBU (The European Broadcast Union).
The co-production was undertaken together with AVRO, the public broadcasting
organization of Holland. France 5, ARTE, ERT (Greece) and SVT (Sweden) made
requests to broadcast the documentary.
“Ottomans’ Exile” will be broadcast as nine 30-minute parts. The project studies
the final period of the Ottoman Empire, the establishment of the Republic and
the story of the Ottoman dynasty, which was exiled after the eradication of the
Caliphate.
The Ottoman Dynasty Foundation whose headquarters is located in Paris supported
the documentary.
Filming in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan started in March 2005, after filming in
Turkey was completed.
Grandchildren of Sultan Abdülhamid and Sultan Abdülmecid were filmed in Lebanon.
Having born in 1918, Bilun Hanim Sultan was six years old when she was deported
along with her family. She says, “The grown-ups were crying. When we asked them
why they were crying, they said they had caught cold." Last month, when her
niece asked her to leave Beirut due to the war that broke out in Lebanon, she
said, “My child, I was expelled from Turkey in 1924, then from Jerusalem in
1938. Now I’m too old to leave my home.”
Shots were taken in France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, England and US
throughout the year 2005. About a hundred people from the Ottoman family were
interviewed.
The objective of this project was to capture interesting and dramatic stories
from the lives of the members of the Ottoman dynasty, who have settled within
various societies of the world, who were able or not to adjust to their new
lives. Some of those stories were full of glory, but most of them were sad.
“I have been away from my fatherland for fifty years, but I’m always there in
spirit and in my dreams. The page ends here. May God protect you."
Mehmed Abid-1973
An excerpt from the letter written by Mehmed Abid Efendi, the youngest son of
Sultan Abdülhamit to his cousin a few days before he died...
Project Team
CONSULTANT : Prof. EKMELEDDİN İHSANOĞLU,
OSMAN SELAHEDDİN OSMANOĞLU,
ORHAN OSMANOĞLU
ARCHIVE RESEARCH : KERİME SENYUCEL,
ELİF KABACAOĞLU
CINEMATOGRAPHER : HALUK ERTUĞRUL
EDITING : SİBEL TEKİN
SOUND : MUHARREM ARMAN
SCRIPT : Assoc. Prof. ORHAN KOLOĞLU,
KERİME SENYÜCEL
PHOTOGRAPHY : HÜSEYİN ÖĞRETMEN,
SÜLEYMAN YURDAKUL,
MURAT ZİLELİOĞLU,
ALİ AHISKALI
MUSIC : DERYA KÖROĞLU,
VEDAT KOSAL,
EMRE ARACI
TRANSLATION ; ÖZGE KAYAKUTLU
POSTER, INVITATION, PAMPHLET DESIGN : ALEV ALTUNDAL,
HANDAN GÖKAŞAN
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR : ELİF KABACAOĞLU
DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER : KERİME SENYÜCEL
Source
Kerime ŞENYÜCEL
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