Fenerbahçe Sports Club President Ali Y. Koç and Members of the Board of Directors recently visited the set of the film The Color of Victory (Zaferin Rengi), which will be released on 16 February, in Kocaeli.
During the visit, President Ali Y. Koç, Secretary General Burak Çağlan Kızılhan, Board Members Simla Türker Bayazıt and Selahattin Baki and Board Member and Chief Advisor to the President Mümtaz Karakaya met with director Abdullah Oğuz and the actors and the jerseys specially woven for the film and reflecting the Fenerbahçe jersey of the period were presented to the club management.
After the visit, Ali Y. Koç made a speech at the presidency office of Fenerbahçe’s old clubhouse, which was built in accordance with the history of the General Harington Cup match:
We believe that this film will be very successful and we believe that Fenerbahçe fans will embrace this film seriously, because such a story will be granted to very few communities…
In his speech, Ali Koç said, “We are very impressed. God willing, our film will be released on 16 February. We will have premieres before that; both in Istanbul and in Germany. We believe it will be a hit. A lot of time was spent, a lot of labour was spent, a lot of money was spent. We reached this point with patience and fortitude. We believe in this film very much. For years, there have been many applications to the club to make the General Harington Cup film. I experienced this when I was a manager and when I was the president, but for one reason or another, it was never realised. Therefore, I would like to congratulate Mr. Abdullah and his team for turning the story into a film for the first time. We would also like to thank them on behalf of our community. We believe that this film will be very successful. We also believe that Fenerbahçe fans will embrace this film because such a story is rare in our community. To remind you, we are the sons of a community that played a very important role in the liberation and establishment of this Republic, this young country. We have many stories. Many for this Republic (Cumhuriyet) and many for this country. When it comes to our ancestor, there are many anecdotes, documents, information and events in history. We Fenerbah.e never say ‘Atatürk favours Fenerbahçe’, even if we believe this. What do we say? ‘It is not important who Atatürk favours, but who walks in Atatürk’s path. Since its foundation, this community has never deviated from this, no matter who is in charge, no matter who is in management. That’s why it is very important that the Harington Cup‘s event and history is identified with us. In fact, our ancestor personally came to our club and wrote his feelings and thoughts about Fenerbahçe in the club’s memory book with his own hands.”
Secretary General Burak Çağlan Kızılhan: We are looking forward to the gala on 16 February…
Secretary General Burak Çağlan Kızılhan said, “I am also proud to meet you. When I had the first meeting with Mr. Abdullah at the club, I did not expect that the film he dreamed of would be with so many people and on such a realistic platform. I visited the set twice. We are looking forward to the premiere on 16 February. It is a very beautiful film. Health to your hands.“
Selahattin Baki, a member of the Board of Directors: Those who watch it will be very touched, they will remember the forgotten…
Selahattin Baki, one of the members of the Board of Directors, stated that he was very emotional during the visit with the following words: “It is impossible not to be touched. We feel like we are travelling in time. It is marvellous. Those who watch it will also be very touched, they will remember the forgotten. I would like to thank our president, our entire community, Mr. Abdullah and the entire cast, bless them. When you see the atmosphere here, when you remember the historical facts once again, you realise that Fenerbahçe Turks have made it a philosophy of life to live young enough to fight and old enough to die when it comes to their homeland. This makes us very special. I am glad Fenerbahçe exists. Happy to be a Turk. (Ne mutlu Türküm diyene)“
Directed by Abdullah Oğuz: It’s a very epic, big story. It is a duty for every Fenerbahçe fan to go to this film…
Director Abdullah Oğuz, who transferred the film to the big screen, said, “I would also like to thank you. You believed, you came, you gave all your support. Without this support, we could not have realised the film. We are doing our best not to be ashamed. We did a lot of things ourselves. We built Taksim Stadium. It is very difficult. I feel tired, but we did a very good job. We worked with a cast like the Champions League. The whole team behind the camera is very professional. It is a duty for every Fenerbahçe fan to go to this film. At the same time, this is a resistance film. There is also a unifying side of this film, everyone will see it when they watch it.“
The cast and set crew of the film saw off President Ali Y. Koç and our executives with Fenerbahçe cheers.
“THE COLOR OF VICTORY” will be in cinemas on 16 February!
With Abdullah Oğuz in the director’s chair, “THE COLOR OF VICTORY” signals that it will be brought to the screen with all its reality as a period film with its acting, make-up and costume designs.
The Color of Victory will bring to the big screen the breathtaking story of unique friendships, a unique love and a sports competition that has left its mark on history; a unique resistance started in Anatolia by organising against enemy forces in occupied Istanbul in the period of 1918 – 1923 will be brought to the big screen by building around the legend of the General Harington Cup, which is considered one of the greatest sports achievements in the history of the Republic.
HEROES OF A VICTORY WON THROUGH UNITY, SPORTS AND LOVE
In addition to Kubilay Aka, one of the talented actors of the new generation, who will portray the main hero of the film, Fenerbahçe’s founding member and legendary captain Galip Bey, and Gülper Özdemir in the role of Peyker; Nejat İşler (Sabri Toprak), Timuçin Esen (Topkapılı Cambaz), Yiğit Özşener (Mustafa Kemal Pasha), Gonca Vuslateri (Vera) and Birce Akalay (Halide Edib Adıvar), who are strong actors of screens and cinema, bring to life the symbolic politicians, intellectuals, military figures and heroic athletes of Turkish football history.
