Fuat Uzkınay

Fuat Uzkınay — Biography

Born Ali Fuat Uzkınay in 1888 in Istanbul's Üsküdar district, Fuat Uzkınay is regarded as the founding figure of Turkish cinema. After finishing Istanbul High School and studying physics and chemistry at Istanbul University, he worked as a school principal and grew fascinated with the new medium of film, learning to operate a projector from Sigmund Weinberg, the man credited with introducing cinema to the Ottoman Empire. That interest led him to champion the opening, on 19 March 1914, of the first Turkish-owned cinema hall in Istanbul.

While serving as a reserve officer during the First World War, Uzkınay filmed the demolition of the Russian Monument at Ayastefanos on 14 November 1914, a work now regarded as the first film produced in Turkey and considered the starting point of Turkish cinema. In 1915, on the order of Enver Pasha, he helped establish the Central Army Cinema Office, initially serving as Sigmund Weinberg's assistant before later taking charge of the department himself.

After training in film production in Germany, Uzkınay completed 'Himmet Ağa'nın İzdivacı' ('The Marriage of Himmet Ağa') in 1918, regarded as the first Turkish narrative feature film. He retired from the Turkish army in 1954 and died at his home in Istanbul on 29 March 1956.