In 1922, a major documentary film, "Independence, the İzmir Victory", was made about the Turkish War of Independence. That same year, the first private movie studio, Kemal Film, commenced operations. From 1923 to 1939, Muhsin Ertugrul was the only active film director in the country. He directed 29 films during this period, generally incorporating adaptions of plays, operettas, fiction and foreign films. The influence of the theater dating back to Uzkinay, Simavi, Ahmet Fehim and Şadi Karagozoglu is very strong in Ertugrul's work.