Atatürk 1881 - 1919

Atatürk 1881 - 1919 is a Turkish historical drama about the early life of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey. The film follows him from his childhood, when he grows up in modest circumstances as an orphan, through his formative years and the beginnings of his military career. Against the backdrop of the collapsing Ottoman Empire, he rises from an unremarkable boy to a figure of national importance, a path that leads toward the founding of the Turkish Republic. Aras Bulut İynemli plays Atatürk, with Songül Öden as his mother Zübeyde Hanım, Mehmet Günsür as his father Ali Rıza Efendi, Sarp Akkaya as Enver Paşa, Esra Bilgiç as Madam Corinne and Darko Peric as Stiliyan Kovaçev.

The film is directed by Mehmet Ada Öztekin from a screenplay by Necati Şahin. It is Öztekin's third feature, following Howl in 2008 and Miracle in Cell No. 7 in 2019, and it was followed by Atatürk II 1881 – 1919 in 2024 and Mr Dread in 2025, making it the first of two parts covering the same period of its subject's life. Released in November 2023, it runs 133 minutes and was produced by Lanistar Media and O3 Medya.

The film took in about 6 million US dollars worldwide, a modest return in global terms but a notable one for a Turkish production of this scale. On TMDB it holds a rating of 7.7 out of 10 from a small number of votes, suggesting a limited but positive response from those who have seen it.