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.

Canakkale: End of the Road (2013)

A Nation Awakens (1966)

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

Hürkuş: Göklerdeki Kahraman (2018)

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)

Ankara Yazı: Veda Mektubu (2016)

Eve Giden Yol 1914 (2006)

Aşkın Zaferi (1974)

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.

Bulgar Sadık (1954)

Kırk Göktürk (0)

Kendini Kurtaran Şehir (1951)

Reşo: Vatan İçin (1974)

Beklenen Bomba (1959)

Osmanlı Bedel İster - Kurdoğlu 1 (1991)

Allah'ın Arslanı Hazreti Ali (1969)

Liberation: Between Two Fires (1994)

It is the story of a nation's resurrection and victory, in which the War of Independence is told.

Liberation: Resurrection (1994)

It is the story of a nation's resurrection and victory, in which the War of Independence is told.

Liberation: Flood of Blood (1994)

It is the story of a nation's resurrection and victory, in which the War of Independence is told.

Liberation: Beginning of the end (1994)

It is the story of a nation's resurrection and victory, in which the War of Independence is told.

Liberation: Salvation (1994)

It is the story of a nation's resurrection and victory, in which the War of Independence is told.

Liberation: Those Crazy Turks (1994)

It is the story of a nation's resurrection and victory, in which the War of Independence is told.

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.

Borrowed Bride (2005)

Ali is 18. His feet are firmly off the ground. The very idea of marriage seems like a game. But the bride's parents are ready and willing. Business ventures will be set up between the families; the arrangement will pay off all round. Ali, meanwhile, is more interested in playing with puppets and dressing up as a rooster for the travelling theatre. His fiancée has only so much patience... So what should his parents do? What was that? Hire a Borrowed Bride? Meaning exactly what? Well just that: borrow a bride, as the title of the film suggests......

Two Hearts As One (2014)

A look inside the story of two newlyweds who are parted from each other and spend the next half-century of their lives trying to reunite.

Sürgün (2013)

Eleni is in love with a young and handsome Turk, Sedat (Tolgahan Sayışman), who also lives on Büyükada with his father, horse carriage driver Halil. These two have been sweethearts since their childhood, and now in college they have decided to further their relationship by tying the wedding knot. The only problem is that Eleni's father does not even know that these wild kids are hitched, since Eleni anticipated that the rich Stavro would never consent to her marrying a Turkish boy from a poor family. Sedat continuously pushes Eleni to tell Stavro of their plans, but the fragile girl can't summon up her courage. Meanwhile, in the background, the relationship between the Greeks and Turks of Cyprus is getting tenser by the day, affecting the situation of the Greek population in Turkey. On March 16, 1964, İsmet İnönü and the Cabinet come to a decision that all Turkish citizens of Greek descent must migrate to Greece.

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.

Vali (2009)

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".

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.