Özet:

In this study, archive sources that shed light on the early period of Turkish cinema, especially Ottoman cinema, are evaluated. Indeed, we learn from these sources the story of cinema’s entry into Ottoman lands, in what way and how it found its place in these lands in terms of social, economic and politic, what kind of fuction it served, and its legal dimensions. In the article, the cinema-related documents obtained as a result of the research carried out in the Prime Ministry Ottoman Archives and Prime Ministry Republician Archives were classified considering the legal, political, economic and sosyo-cultural role of early Turkish cinema. In order to reflect the relationship between cinema and theater and its continuity, exemplary recordings of the theather that entered the pre-cinema Ottoman lands as a modern performing art and secondary literature, which was written especially by using archive sources, were also included.

Anahtar Kelimeler: