Fatih Akin
German director, born in 1973 in Hamburg.
Born in Hamburg to immigrant parents, Fatih Akin is a director between two shores, a bridge-builder between Turkish and German cultures. He began shooting amateur films in his teens, and went on to make acclaimed school shorts during his studies at the Hamburg Fine Arts School. Short Sharp Shock (1998), his first feature, transposes the world of gangster films to his hometown. Awarded in Locarno, this film led to a new era of German multicultural cinema, which was confirmed by Head-On, winner of the Golden Bear at Berlin 2004. This feverish romance initiates his trilogy on love, death and evil, alongside The Edge of Heaven (Screenplay Prize at Cannes 2007) and The Cut (2014, a period film about the Armenian genocide starring Tahar Rahim). For years, Akin has also worked the nightlife scene as a DJ. This nocturnal energy permeates his electric, musical cinema, both in its forms (listen to the comedy Soul Kitchen 2009) and its subjects: from the documentary Crossing the Bridge - The Sound of Istanbul (2005) to the biopic Rheingold (2022), a portrait of the Kurdish-Iranian Xatar, who has become a German rap legend.
© Linda Rosa Saal
Short Sharp Shock (1998) - In July (2000) - Denk ich an Deutschland - Wir haben vergessen zurückzukehren (2001) - Solino (2002) - Head-On (2004) - Crossing the Bridge : The Sound of Istanbul (2005) - The Edge of Heaven (2007) - Soul Kitchen (2009) - Polluting Paradise (2012) - The Cut (2014) - Goodbye Berlin (2016) - In the Fade (2017) - The Golden Glove (2019) - Rhinegold (2022)