CONTENT LIBRARY

Atatürk – Father of Modern Turkey

ORF-E
English
1 x 52 min
Worldwide except for Germany, France and the Czech Republic

The documentary Atatürk – Father of Modern Turkey attempts to come to terms with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as both a larger-than-life personality and a phenomenon of the zeitgeist at the turn of the last century. Atatürk’s revolution reflected the tensions between tradition, affairs of state and religion prevalent at the time. He was a man driven by the ideals he was prepared to implement at any cost, and his reforms completely changed the face of Turkey. Was the “Father of the Turks” a European at heart? He was inspired by the idea of nationalism, the implementation of fundamental rights and the separation of state and religion. His countless private notes, diaries, and the handwritten comments he added to his books offer us a behind-the-scenes look at the most powerful man at the dawn of the Turkish Republic, as well as insights into his personality. November 10, 2018, marked the 80th anniversary of the death of Atatürk, undoubtedly one of the most fascinating figures of his time. He was a brilliant military strategist and political operator, the founder of modern Turkey, a ladies’ man, and an educator of the people. In addition, he was a revolutionary profoundly influenced by Western ideas. His private library contained the most significant works of the European Enlightenment. Without his “War of Independence” there would be no modern Turkey. This has earned him lasting fame and admiration among many Turkish people to this day. The film is a portrait of Atatürk and his intellectual development in an era that looked ahead to the welfare of the European nation-state and its secularism, rather than backward to the Ottoman Empire. This was an outlook that, due to either unfulfilled expectations or the waning of Europe as a desirable model, faded for those who came after Atatürk.

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