Ersen Ocak

Dr. Savaş Arslan directs a documentary portraying the story of Sigmund Weinberg, who was one of the pioneers of the history of cinema in Turkey. Illustrating the social life of Istanbul at the turn of the 20th century, the documentary follows the technological developments of the period from the camera to the gramophone, and from cinema to automobiles, as it traces Weinerg’s family members who have been scattered across five different continents, and portrays the opening of Istanbul’s first cinema theater in 1908. A Sigmund Weinberg Docu-commentary provides an in-depth study of Sigmund Weinberg, the official photographer, film producer and director of both Sultan Abdülhamid II and Sultan Mehmed V Reşad, a century ago during a period of constant transformations. Using a witty language, the filmincludes interviews with film historians Burçak Evren and Giovanni Scognamillo, while comparing and contrasting shadow play and cinema through the examples of Karagöz and Weinberg.