Cinema
Pençe
Sedat Simavi · 1917
Synopsis
The plot of this silent film is not summarised. TheTVDB, which draws on the TMDb database, credits its screenplay to the novelist Mehmet Rauf and Sedat Simavi, and lists among its performers Eliza Binemeciyan, Nurettin Şefkati, Raşit Rıza Samako and Bedia Muvahhit; the history of the beginnings of Turkish cinema published by İİENSTİTÜ says only that it was produced by a national defence association and that little is known about it. This synopsis therefore sticks to these elements.
Context
According to İİENSTİTÜ, the same body, devoted to the defence of the country, also produced the other fiction film made by the director that year. The Encyclopedia of Istanbul presents the actress Binemeciyan as a member of the Darülbedayi troupe, and Bedia Muvahhit was to act six years later in the film Ateşten Gömlek. The director made one more historical film in 1918, then left the cinema for the press, where he made his whole career.
Who it is for
A silent film in Turkish, known only from its record and from histories of cinema; no recent screening has been reported.
Prizes and reception
One of the first fiction films shot in the Ottoman Empire; its reception is not known.