My call to all movie theaters: Keep 'Bir Cumhuriyet Şarkısı' in theaters

You must watch this film. In fact, go watch it with your children. If you are a patriot, I recommend you take a tissue with you. You will likely be unable to hold back your tears, and by the end of the film, you will experience a mix of happiness and despondency.

You will weep for the helplessness of a 101-year-old Republic trapped in the spirit of the times, and you will applaud in admiration for the spirit of mobilization during its founding days.

Bir Cumhuriyet Şarkısı (A Song of the Republic) struck me in the heart. I extend my heartfelt thanks to its director Yağız Alp Akaydın, the BKM writing group behind the screenplay, the actors Mehmet Özgür, Salih Bademci, Ertan Saban, Ahmet Rıfat Şungar, Birce Akalay, Melis Sezen, and Şifanur Gül, everyone who contributed to the film, and İş Bankası, the supporter behind this project.

I went to watch the film Bir Cumhuriyet Şarkısı, which was released the week of October 19, on November 10.

It saddened me to see that it had been reduced to two screenings in movie theaters before it had even completed its third week of release. In some cinemas, it had even been pulled from the schedule entirely.

At a time when we as a country need hope, why does such a beautiful work stay in theaters for such a short time? Many answers come to mind. This film, which I believe especially the Z generation needs to watch, cannot be sacrificed for box office revenue.

MY CALL TO ALL MOVIE THEATERS IN TURKEY;

Apply a "patriotism" quota to "Bir Cumhuriyet Şarkısı," issue tickets at student or retiree rates so that people from every income group can watch it, and keep the film in theaters for as long as possible.

Because this film gives important messages to a youth that sees no hope for a future in Turkey and has given up on dreaming, from the generation of their grandfathers who founded the Republic. It says, "You are the grandchildren of a generation that made the impossible possible."

It explains that the spirit of mobilization lies at the core of the Turkish revolution, that miracles can be created from impossibilities, and that when you are part of the spirit of mobilization, you can achieve even the most difficult thing that is said to be "impossible."

While watching the film, tears flowed from my eyes from time to time. In the Turkey of the 1930s, marked by scarcity, the great determination and the will to do the difficult together, the feeling of achieving together, and the joy this feeling creates in a person, also envelop the audience.

Bir Cumhuriyet Şarkısı takes Atatürk out of the profile of Atatürk the war hero, and tells the story of the woman Atatürk fell in love with in Bulgaria—whom many of us do not know—the opera he discovered with her, and the first Turkish Opera, ÖZSOY, with the determination and excitement of a nation's rise.

We learn many truths about that period that we did not know.

Contrary to today, we witness that there was no room for hopelessness in the Turkey of the 1930s. Unlike the phrase "There is nothing to be done" that is on everyone's lips today, the most used word in that period was "We'll handle it"!

Whenever we move from the discourse of "there is nothing to be done" to "we'll handle it," that is when we will bring that spirit back to the Republic.

The strength we need is the spirit of mobilization found in our ancestors!