Turkish Film Classics
Thursday September 27, 5:00
Room 165, Thompson Library
(picture with courtesy from the OSU Libraries’ Middle East Center)
The OSU Libraries’ Middle East section and the Turkish Studies Working Group will present Faruk Aksoy’s Turkish epic, Fetih 1453, about the Ottoman Conquest of Constantinople. This big budget ($17M), three hour film, was important with respect to the growing Turkish Film industry as well as its historical importance both as history and as an expression of modern Turkish identity. Due to its length, we will start this film earlier than usual at 5:15 with a brief introduction at 5:00. Refreshments will be provided by the Middle East Studies Center and the Turkish Working Group.
In 1453, the Byzantine capital of Constantinople is surrounded by Ottoman Turks. The city is but a shadow of its former glory due to the empire’s ever receding coffers, while the Ottoman Empire continues to grow rich. After years of tolerating the existence of Byzantium, the ambitious sultan, Mehmet II launches his campaign to end the Byzantine Empire and take Constantinople for the Ottomans, resulting in arguably the greatest siege of that age.