"Ottoman America" Documentary Meets the Audience

Stories from the Ottoman world as lived in the USA are being presented to the international public. The documentary film "Ottoman America," produced in collaboration with Bay Atlantic University, the Bahçeşehir University Center for Civilization Studies (MEDAM) and the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB), will be presented to audiences at screenings to be held in the USA this month.

Aiming to tell the stories of the Ottoman world as lived in the USA to the international public in an objective way, the documentary film will shed light, through personal stories, on the lost "Ottoman America" in 3 episodes of 35 minutes each.

Filmed in locations such as Massachusetts, Lowell, Lynn, Peabody, Lawrence, Boston, New York, Ellis Island, New Jersey (Paterson), Wall Street, Michigan (Detroit), Virginia, Richmond and Washington D.C., the documentary film will bring back to mind the forgotten world of Ottoman immigrants in the USA.

In addition to a general narrative, through on-site footage with experts on the subject, viewers will be both informed and made part of the personal stories as this lost time is rediscovered.

Anatolia Will Be Promoted

Among the film's goals are to reveal the contributions of Turkish immigrants who came to the USA in the early 1900s to both the USA and Türkiye, to provide a common platform for Turks, and to bring the contributions of Turks to the country to light.

The documentary, produced in collaboration with Bay Atlantic University, the Bahçeşehir University Center for Civilization Studies (MEDAM) and the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB), also aims to offer business people and politicians of Turkish origin a strong historical database, to contribute to tourism by promoting Anatolia, to bring a new perspective to the immigration debates in the country by positively changing misperceptions about those who migrated to the USA, and to strengthen the sense of belonging to the country among members of the Turkish community who have been in the USA for more than 100 years.

Describing the immigrants' points of arrival in America and their experiences within America, the documentary tells the human stories of the Ottoman people who began contributing to American society, economy and politics in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Imam Mehmed Ali Efendi, who was appointed by the Ottoman Government as an attaché to the Washington Embassy in 1910, spoke 6 languages and had a mosque built in the area where the World Trade Center would later stand, is among the figures whose stories are told.

To watch, click here.