THE SHADOW ON THE CINEMA SCREEN, WHO MAKES THE FIRST FILM SCREENING IN PALACE: VICTOR EFFENDİ BERTRAND

Abstract

Cinema in Turkey, including start date, continue to be updated, intense debate in the light of new studies consistently missing or misconceptions. Retroactive discussions arising from the absence of sufficiently document the history of cinema, begins to change due to studies to archives and new sources. “Turkish Cinema History” created by the historians and writers such as Nurullah Tilgen, Rakım Çalapala, Nijat Özön, Zahir Güvemli and later Agah Özgüç, Giovanni Scognamillo, now, with the efforts of some scholars, and writers such as Ali Özuyar, Burçak Evren, Yorgo Bozis an attempt to create a new cinema history. Zahir Güvemli the book History of Cinema "first impressions", says: "In the early years of the 1896-97, the show was made with the projection display machine in a pub where Galatasaray in Istanbul named Sponek. According to the few sources on hand, an unknown French painter has repeated these shows, which he had previously started in Saray. "(Guvemli, 1960: 237) The French painter whom Güvemli means here is D'Henri with his full name Henri Delavallee. Today public display in 1896 in Beer hall Sponeck, supported by new data is regarded as Delavallee did, not Sigmund Weinberg. The person that Güvemli actually speaks about, II. Abdülhamit's daughter Ayşe Osmanoğlu is none other than the French juggler Betrand in her memories. “Bertrand used to imitate and juggle, went to France every year, asking for permission from my father, learning some new things. He brought the cinema to the palace.”(Osmanoğlu, 1995: 68) The identity of the person who has been described only as “Juggler Bertrand” in all cinema books to date will be clarified with this article. As a result of the researches, it was determined that the real name of this person was “Victor Bertrand” or Victor Effendi Bertrand. As a result of the works carried out in the Presidential State Archive, Bertrand's correspondence with the sultan was found and translated. In addition, a book named “Levende Schaduwbeelden” by Victor Bertrand in Musea Zutphen in the Netherlands has been reached. The purpose of this article is to clarify the era of this person, who has an important place in Turkish Cinema History, as well as clarifying the period from his correspondence with the Sultan. To reveal a first in terms of Turkish Cinema History both reveals the uniqueness of this study and makes an important contribution to the period.