"Aysel, The Girl From the Marsh Croft", Returns to the Big Screen After 90 Years

With the support of Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi, Aysel, The Girl From the Marsh Croft (1935), a groundbreaking film in the history of Turkish cinema, restored last year by Sinematek/Cinema House, will meet audiences 90 years after its first screening with its renewed copy. Prior to the screening, a talk will be held with researcher-writer Serdar Soydan and Sinematek/Cinema House General Coordinator, director Elif Ergezen.

Adapted by Nâzım Hikmet from a short story by Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf, the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, and directed by Muhsin Ertuğrul, the film stars Cahide Sonku, the first female star of Turkish cinema. The cast also includes Turkey’s first beauty queen Feriha Tevfik, as well as Behzat Butak, Talât Artemel, Hâzım Körmükçü, Mahmut Moralı, Müfit Kiper, Sami Ayanoğlu, and Hâdi Hün.

The film tells the story of Aysel, who is ostracized by villagers after becoming pregnant by the master of the household she works for, but earns the admiration of Ali through her defiance in standing up for her rights. Known as Turkish cinema’s first “village film,” it was shot in the village of Çalı in Bursa. The cinematographer was Cezmi Arı. Directed by Muhsin Ertuğrul, who pioneered the sound era of Turkish cinema, the film was recorded with synchronized sound, accompanied by traditional folk songs, with original music composed by Cemal Reşit Rey.

The rights to the film belong to Murat Film. The scanning was carried out at Mimar Sinan University’s Prof. Sami Şekeroğlu Cinema-TV Center, and the digital restoration at Atlas Post-Production Studios. Premiering on October 27, World Day for Audiovisual Heritage, the film was later screened at the Swedish Film Institute on February 23, 2025, at Eye Filmmuseum on April 6, 2025, and within the program of Il Cinema Ritrovato Film Festival.