The first episode of Fatih: Sultan of Conquests, which portrays the life of the Ottoman ruler Fatih Sultan Mehmed, aired last night. The grand Gala of the high-budget production, to be aired on TRT1, took place as an event hosted by TRT General Manager Mehmet Zahid Sobacı, where the first episode was screened.
The Gala was attended by Fahrettin Altun, the Presidential Communications Director, TRT Management, the producer of the series Eyüp Gökhan Özekin, director Şafak Bal, and several lead actors including Serkan Çayoğlu, Selim Bayraktar, Fikret Kuşkan, Tuba Ünsal, Sinan Albayrak, Seçkin Özdemir, alongside numerous guests from the film industry.
ALTUN: INCREASING INTEREST IN TURKISH SERIES
Addressing the press before the screening, Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun stated that the series is a significant project and a substantial investment. Altun emphasized their hope that this project would make a serious contribution to Türkiye’s popular culture industry, cultural heritage, and broadcasting life. Altun highlighted the growing development in the TV series and cinema sector, emphasizing the significant investments in the Turkish brand. He mentioned that this series would also contribute significantly to the Turkish brand internationally, stating, “Over the past three years, we are delighted to see a 183% increase in demand for Turkish series globally.“
SOBACI: FATIH SHOULD BE EVALUATED IN THE CONTEXT OF PUBLIC BROADCASTING
TRT General Manager Mehmet Zahid Sobacı expressed TRT’s commitment to undertake projects that private channels might find challenging and emphasized, “As Turkey’s public broadcaster, we see it as our responsibility to uphold our history, national, spiritual, and cultural values, to narrate the heroic stories of our ancestors, and to bring the glorious pages of our honorable history to the screen.
Therefore, I believe that this series, which narrates the blessed conquest foretold by the Prophet and the beautiful commander Mehmed the Conqueror praised by it, should be evaluated in the context of public broadcasting.”
WHO’S IN THE CAST?
Produced by Eyüp Gökhan Özekin and directed by Şafak Bal, the series stars Serkan Çayoğlu, Selim Bayraktar, Fikret Kuşkan, Tuba Ünsal, Kenan Çoban, Bülent Alkış, Seçkin Özdemir, and Esila Umut, among others.
For the first episode of the series, filming took place for ten days at Nour Cinema City in Iran. Additionally, Hollywood star Gassan Mesud, known for his roles in “Kingdom of Heaven” and “Pirates of the Caribbean,” joins the cast, portraying the character Eyüb El Ensari, paralleling the story of Fatih Sultan Mehmed.
