Ertegün brothers subject of documentary

The Ertegün brothers, the sons of former Turkish Ambassador to Washington Münir Ertegün and one of whom launched Atlantic Records, contributed to the elimination of racial discrimination in the US and were revolutionary, director Ümran Safter, who made a documentary about them, has said. 

Safter, the director of the documentary "Leave The Door Open," which was screened for the first time at the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul, spoke to state-run Anadolu Agency about how the idea of the documentary came up, its story and the reactions.

Safter said she read a small article in an American newspaper about three years ago and started to research about it. 

Stating that she was very excited by the news about how the "walls of racial discrimination" were broken during a jazz concert at the Turkish Embassy, Safter said, "As I researched the subject, I came across a wonderful story and I decided to make the documentary. We started shooting in 2019, after finishing the shooting in 2020 and completing the editing, the COVID-19 pandemic started. It has been shown at festivals since the beginning of this year."

Safter said the 1930 and 1940s saw one of the worst years of racial discrimination in the U.S., with a deeply segregated society.  However, Safter said, Ahmet and Nasuhi Ertegün worked towards eliminating this. 
Reminding that Ahmet and Nasuhi Ertegün started playing jazz music at a young age, Safter said, "Münir Ertegün was appointed as ambassador to the U.S. in 1930. He had two sons, Ahmet and Nasuhi. They were in love with jazz music. While still in London, their mother took them to the concerts of legendary jazz musicians such as Duke Ellington and Cub Calloway." 

"His appointment as ambassador to Washington excited the...