Jun 14

Istanbul memories on focus of six filmmakers

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‘Do not forget me – Istanbul’ is a joint effort by six directors mainly from the Balkans and the Middle East who want to remind people that Istanbul is a city whose memories go beyond Turkey’s borders and whose history belongs to the people of those countries as well. The filmmaker hopes the film will vie for prestigious awards at the Cannes and Berlin film festivals

An up-and-coming film aims to remind new generations of the cultural influence that Istanbul has left in the collective memories of many nations.

It is the metropolis where West meets East, the city that has witnessed the rise and fall of empires, and the place where countless people from Anatolia, the Balkans and the Middle East have written their life stories. And it will be the theme of “Do not forget me – Istanbul.”

The film is a joint effort of six talented directors mainly from the Balkans and the Middle East – Bosnian Aida Begic, Serbian Stefan Arsenijevic, Greek Stergios Niziris, U.S.’s Eric Nazarian, Palestinian Omar Shargawi and Hany Abu-Assad. They want to remind people that Istanbul is a city whose memories exceed Turkey’s borders and whose history belongs to the peoples of these countries as well.

Hüseyin Karabey, the artistic director for the film, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review that two years ago when he was participating in the Thessaloniki Film Festival he met well-known Greek screenplay writer Petros Markaris. They were talking about Istanbul, where Markaris was brought up, when Karabey discovered he was living in the same apartment Markaris used to, 40 years ago.

“Such a coincidence is unbelievable even in a film,” said Karabey, adding that it had been really moving to learn they had so much in common. “I immediately thought about my other friends and colleagues from the Balkans and the Middle East, whom stories about their old links with Istanbul I used to hear about frequently,” he said, adding that many people in the Balkans and Middle East have strong links with the city, although they might never have visited it in their lives.

Karabey said the directors would work in strong cooperation with young Turkish directors and actors and that their assistants will be young talented students. “It is not only a matter of just shooting the film,” he said, adding that the people involved would have the chance to gain a lot of experience and that through networking new projects may be developed in the future.

Karabey said he would best describe Istanbul with Makaris’ expression: “One can create a story about many cities, but Istanbul is a city that creates stories.”

Omar ShargawiOmar Shargawi, the director of the Golden Tiger-awarded “Go with peace Jamil” from Palestine, who was in Istanbul for a five-day workshop on the film with the other directors, told the Daily News he felt like it was the only time he had the chance to make a film and have fun at the same, adding that he experienced very romantic moments when he first came to the city.

Istanbul is one of the world’s monumental cities, according to Shargawi, who said the city was very special for him and his country of origin. “I do not feel I have any links with other big cities such as Rome, Paris or New York, but it is different with Istanbul,” he said, adding that there are two big cities with a big influence in the region: Istanbul and Cairo.

Shargawi, who was brought up in Denmark, said that in Europe, history had taught him that Turks were the enemy. “When I grew up, the picture turned around and I realized the opposite was true. After finishing his project in Istanbul, he plans to shoot a film in film in Cairo.

Aida BegicBosnian director Aida Begic, well known for the Cannes Critics’ Week Grand Prize-awarded “Snow,” told the Daily News that making a film about Istanbul would be a big challenge for her as a director. “I find the concept marvelous and brave,” she said, adding that uniting well-known directors from different parts of world who have relations with the city was difficult but very successfully achieved by Karabey.

Begic said she felt both love and hate the first time she visited the city in 2003. “Istanbul is like a wild animal that is always running away from your arms,” she said, adding that although it was very chaotic, she fell in love with the city and that she was excited to express this still very passionate and wild love for Istanbul in the short film she will make. Begic also said Istanbul was literally between West and East, which makes it a great place where diversities meet. “We can explore ideas of universality and individuality in this city,” she said.

stergios-niziris

Stergios Niziris

Turkish filmmaking is like a diamond that is being revealed to the world, according to Begic. “The whole world is expecting Turkish cinema to explode,” she said, adding that it was experiencing an international opening that wanted to host international directors as well, of which she felt very honored.

As artistic director, Karabey said the cost for the film would reach 3 million Turkish Liras, of which 60 percent would be funded by the 2010 Istanbul European Capital of Culture agency and the rest by other foreign sponsors. Filming will start in July this year and the premiere is planned for the end of 2010.

“Do not forget me – Istanbul” will vie for prestigious awards at the Cannes Film Festival. Karabey said they talked to the festival organizers about the film and that even the fact of getting so many well-known directors together for this project seemed to be very exciting for them. He said they also intended to submit it to the Berlin Film Festival.

The stories

All of the short films will take place in Istanbul. Most of the actors will be Turkish, but the language of the main characters will be that of the country they represent. Here is the summary of some of the stories:

Amenak comes to Istanbul for the first time and feels like he has known the city for many years. As he searched for an old instrument shop among narrow streets in the city center, which his grandfather used to own a long time ago, he wonders what could have made his parents leave the city before he was born. The streets seem like extracts from his childhood memories, memories that have never existed … or have they?

Dragan and Ana take a long, tiring bus trip every weekend to sell cheap gadgets they carry in old suitcases in the urban jungle called Aksaray. One weekend they lose each other in the crowded streets, and while desperately looking for her husband, Ana encounters someone she lost many years ago: her son Marko who died in the war that tore the Balkans apart in the 1990s. Could that really be him?

Vangelis travels a lot between Istanbul and Thessaloniki for business, but feels like he is unwanted in Istanbul, which is why he prefers not to stay more than one day. Then one day his bag is stolen and he has to stay until he finds it. As he searches for the guy who hit him and ran away with his bag, he meets Zeynep and she helps him find his bag. But what else will he find in her?

Martha has come to Istanbul for the first time to meet her overseas boyfriend. She has to stay alone during the first day of her trip and gets anxious as she faces the city’s uncanny, poor neighborhoods. As her anxiety passes, she is hit by bad news: her boyfriend cannot come to Istanbul.

Resource: ERİSA DAUTAJ ŞENERDEM ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

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Tanınmış 6 yönetmen ‘İstanbul hikayelerini’ filme çekiyor

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Jun 02

Shades of grey in 1963 film

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TURKISH Cypriot director Dervish Zaim’s new film-in-the-making, Shadows and Shapes, is set to be his most controversial yet.

Set in 1963, the year in which the Cyprus Republic dissolved into ethnic violence, it follows the growing pains of Rusa, an adolescent girl from the Karpasia village of Komi Kebir.

But Istanbul-based Zaim says that ethnic conflict is only one of the film’s themes.
“It’s mainly a story about growing up,” Zaim told the Sunday Mail. “The conflict is in the background; it’s not the main theme”.

Nevertheless, the film’s promoters describe it as “a story that takes place as the events of 1963 unfold”, with Rusa and her shadow puppeteer father Veli separated as they flee their burning village. “The pain, the friendships, and the surrounding war casts a light on Cyprus’ story,” the promoters say.

Zaim says he set the film in 1963 “because in the almost 50 years that have passed since then, no one has made a film about that era”. “Those times are like a forgotten memory,” he says.

In his own community, however, the “Bloody Christmas of 1963” and its aftermath is anything but a forgotten memory. But as Zaim says, the film is not only, or even primarily about that.

“I believe it holds a universal message,” Zaim says. “It’s a message of peace, of growing together, of tolerance. In this sense it is not just a film about Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots.”

Naturally, Zaim cannot avoid the fact that he is making a film about a period of time that is remembered very differently by his community and Greek Cypriots. Nevertheless he insists that “as much as possible” he has “tried to stay faithful to historical events”.

Perhaps as a way of clarifying that he is not out to make a film about bad Greeks and oppressed Turks, the cast includes both Greek and Turkish Cypriot actors. Popi Avraam, among several other Greek Cypriot actors, plays a leading role as one of Rusa’s neighbours.

Zaim also insists he “tried to be as objective as possible” about what took place during the period covered by the film. “There are no blacks or whites. People are always grey. No one is purely good or bad,” Zaim says, adding that the characters in the film were “both fictitious and created from people I have met or heard about”.

Zaim adds Shadows and Shapes to a growing list of acclaimed low-budget films that includes Somersault in a Coffin, Waiting for Paradise, Dot and Mud. Zaim also worked with Panikos Chrysanthou in the making of the controversial but widely acclaimed Akamas, a film that, because of the sensitivity that surrounds it, still has not been shown on Cypriot TV either side of the Green Line. Zaim says he hopes to see Shadow and Shapes, which will be in Greek and Turkish, in cinemas next year.

Resource: Simon Bahceli Cyprus-Mail

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May 22

Two films show rise of immigrant Turks in cinema

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Turkish immigrants in Europe take center stage in two films from non-Turkish directors currently playing in theaters. Here’s a look at how the depictions of the lives of Turks people in Europe have changed in cinema over the last three decades

What do two movies, one directed by an Austrian and the other by a Dutchman, playing in theaters right now have in common?

Both “Die Fremde” (When We Leave) and “Takiye: Allah’ın Yolunda” (In the Name of God) feature Turkish characters in their leads. Both films tell the stories of Turkish immigrants living in Europe and of characters who feel stuck between two cultures, two countries and between tradition and modernity.

“Die Fremde” stars Sibel Kekilli, the poster girl for Turkish immigrants in cinema, in an award-winning performance.

Director Feo Aladağ’s debut feature tells the story of Umay, a Turkish woman whose family lives in Germany. The film begins as she ends her marriage, running away from her thuggish husband with her son back to her family in Berlin. She finds out that it doesn’t really matter whether she’s in Turkey or Germany – as long as she’s a single mother, traditions work the same for a Turkish woman, even if she’s right in the middle of a culture with gender equality.

Director Ben Verlong’s “Takiye: Allah’ın Yolunda” is a genre-bending movie, a thriller that looks deep into the problems faced by Muslims in Europe in the last decade.

The joint Dutch-Turkish production delves into a recurring problem for Turkish people living in Europe: the investment scams that put people’s life savings into jeopardy, and the disappearance of investors with the huge sums of cash.

The film stars Erhan Emre as a man who entrusts his money to an Islamic investment, convincing those around him to do the same. In the end, of course, he is left empty-handed after the company goes bankrupt with the executives nowhere in sight.

From cardboard to realistic characters

The arrival of Turkish immigrants into Germany half a century ago (and later other Western European countries) marked the beginning of a cultural clash that has continued for decades.

Refusing to integrate into the cultures they had now become parts of, Turkish immigrants have generated scorn in the host countries over the years. When German immigrant cinema emerged in the 1970s and later blossomed in 1980s, harsh working conditions became a major theme. The characters, however, were largely cardboard and stereotyping became the norm as far as the development of Turkish roles.

Director Tevfik Başer’s “40 Metrekare Almanya” (40 Square Meters of Germany) of 1986 was a first in Turkish cinema when he provided a very realistic glimpse into the lives of Turkish immigrants in Germany.

The film put a female character in its center, the newly-wed Turna (Özay Fecht), who is taken from her village in Turkey to Germany to be locked in a small apartment everyday while her husband goes to work. The film was actually a harbinger of the things to come in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Turkish and German filmmaker Fatih Akın has been a revered name among European cinephiles since the late 1990s with hits like “Im Juli” (In July) and “Solino.”

His Golden Bear-winning “Gegen die Wand” (Head-On), however, would become the benchmark for the depiction of Turkish people living in Germany. Akın not only became the voice of third-generation Turks in Germany with his modern classics like “Gegen die Wand” and “Auf der anderen Seite” (The Edge of Heaven), but he single-handedly maneuvered German cinema to include young Turkish directors and freed Turkish characters from being given stereotypical roles.

“Gegen die Wand” was a heartbreaking love story of two people living in cultural purgatory, between tradition and modernity, Turkey and Germany, survival and death.

Drawing from his long past as a migrant in Germany, Akın recreated the world of three generations of Turkish migrants in Germany. His genre-defining cinema gave these misfits a voice and an existence in pop culture, which at the end of the decade would open the way for young Turkish directors like Özgür Yıldırım to have their distinct voices in cinema.

Clash of civilizations on film

Young director Özgür Yıldırım’s “Chiko” of 2008 told the story of the street-smart Turkish boy İsa, known to many as Chiko, and his bumpy ride in the underground world of drugs. The film featured the self-made macho world of young Turkish boys in Germany, boys who become men with violence, drugs, and gang life. Stuck in a world of antiquated traditions and the burden of modern life, the macho underground life was shown to be these third-generation young Turks’ only ticket to self-respect.

Newcomer İnan Temelkuran’s debut feature “Made in Europe” took a glimpse into the cultural clash between Turks and Europe more broadly. Taking place in a single night, in three different metropolises in Europe, Madrid, Paris and Berlin, the film was more like three short films or a feature with three parts.

“Made in Europe” portrayed a group of characters (mostly men) in each city, talking as they do with one another, focusing on the sad stories of these men through sharp, realistic and surprisingly shocking dialogue. The film brought a totally fresh perspective to the lives of Turkish immigrants in Europe. Not only for the Turkish audience, the movie was a strong critique of all those celebrating cultural diversity in a Europe under the shadow of the supposed clash of civilizations.

Other directors who have forged into the slippery territory of Turks and Germans are Thomas Arslan, whose “Der schöne Tag” (A Fine Day) told the story of the struggle of a young Turkish woman (Serpil Turhan) to become an actress; Adnan Köse, who skillfully puts German and Turkish people next to one another in his films; and Buket Alakuş, whose most famous picture, “Anam” (My Mother), featured a hapless Turkish housewife and mother in Germany.

Resources: EMRAH GÜLER Hurriyet Daily NewsFriday, May 21, 2010

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Apr 21

Demirkubuz’s ‘Envy’ Thou shalt not commit adultery

By LTFF News No Comments »

Writer-director Zeki Demirkubuz holds one of the most unique places in Turkish cinema; he seems to simultaneously gather contempt and admiration from critics and audiences for his obstinate, unapologetic and self-exultant style of dealing with human misery, treachery, submission to blind fate and the dynamics of basic patriarchal society and of exerting emotional power.

Demirkubuz’s cinematic prowess reaches its heights especially in films such as “Masumiyet” (Innocence, 1992) and the more recent “Kader” (Fate, 2006).

This time, diverting from his usual illustration of contemporary society, he takes a plunge in directing a period piece, “Kıskanmak” (Envy), based on Nahid Sırrı Örik’s 1946 novel of the same title.

It is the 1930s; Zonguldak, a mining town in the western Black Sea region, is the setting. The newly founded Turkish Republic is in its infancy, and pride mixed with detachment overcomes the facial expressions of the guests of a Republic Day ball as they sing the national anthem. About 30 seconds pass, and we cut to the same guests dancing a waltz — perhaps an allusion to manifestations of the perception of the modern republic during the time. We are immediately introduced to our main characters: Halit (Serhat Tutumluer), the İstanbulite engineer newly appointed to the mining company in the town, Mükerrem (Berrak Tuzunatac), his beautiful and much younger socialite wife, and last but not least, Seniha (Nergis Öztürk), Halit’s incredibly ugly sister who is the appendage of their marriage and takes shelter in her brother’s house.

Everybody seems happy with the family arrangement, or at least that is what we can assume by the pleasantries exchanged and the air of acceptance. Halit works like a dog to feed the family and remains mostly silent during dinner. He treats his wife with adoration but nonetheless indifference. Seniha, despite her brother’s discontentment with her, keeps the household running and prefers the life of a recluse. And Mükerrem, with the air of a child, knows exactly how to toss her pretty head around and seems mostly concerned with the nostalgia of her previously bubbly life in İstanbul. The key here is the relationship between Seniha and Mükerrem; one would think that given the circumstances of aesthetics and Seniha’s immediate presence in the marriage, the two would openly maltreat each other; however, a sisterly bond does exist between them that surpasses formality. Or so we would think — until a new element is added to the equation.

When Nüzhet, the handsomely pretty and good-for-nothing son of the richest family in town, sets his eyes on Mükerrem, the dynamics are forever changed. Mükerrem is at first disgusted with Nüzhet’s overt sexual innuendo, but it isn’t long before she yields to her lust and thus they embark on an affair. Perhaps it gives her something to do in this godforsaken town as the beautiful misery of her drama carries her away.
While Halit remains clueless, Seniha is aware of everything, and the question remains for a long time why she conceals her sister-in-law’s adultery from her brother. Is it because of her understanding or maybe is she just waiting for the right time to unleash hell?

As Seniha, Öztürk’s performance is exhilarating, and her recent best actress award at the Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival is surely deserved. She portrays through her body language, facial twitches and subtly stingy intonations the disposition of a woman who sees herself confined by a destiny that she is not in control of — after all, if beauty is God given, so is ugliness. When Seniha finally reveals Mükerrem’s “un-virtuousness” to her brother, Öztürk delivers her performance with incomparable grace. We reflect whether this really is Seniha’s personal revenge against Mükerrem or something far deeper — maybe her brother or just life itself. Of course, even she has no idea what the consequences will be and how cruelly her “destiny” will change.


“Envy” differs in many ways from Demirkubuz’s previous works. It is much more restrained and claustrophobic, which in its own way transforms the film into a continuous rollercoaster of emotional tension and suspense without ever revealing anything more than it should.
The intense dialogue sequences are the best that have come out of Turkish cinema in recent years and the eerie atmosphere created through cinematography and art direction lures the audience into the twisted, familiar and timeless universe of the human psyche. “Envy” would have still been as powerful if it took place in contemporary society — for sometimes one ponders if there really are any emotions as powerful as envy, lust and contempt…

resource: EMİNE YILDIRIM  Today’s Zaman

Official Website: Zeki Demirkubuz

Zeki’s IMDB

The Autuers

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Mar 31

Directors ignite Turkish cinema’s return to art

By LTFF Festivals, Films and Directors, News No Comments »

Turkish cinema is sizzling hot with films sweeping top international film prizes, but filmgoers in Turkey can’t seem to find these winning films in theaters. A new crop of independent filmmakers is taking matters into their own hands. The collective will screen their own films at Feriye Sinema on the Bosphorus April 24-May 9

A new group of 29 well-known filmmakers plan to fortify independent cinema in Turkey through pooling resources and creating a new film center. Award-winners internationally and in Turkey, their New Cinema Movement is the first to form such a large and highly acclaimed group of independent filmmakers in Turkey.

The group has invited the public to attend 16 independent Turkish films during Film Days at Feriye Sinema in Ortaköy from April 24 to May 9. With low ticket prices, parties and directors on hand for discussions, the group hopes to make their films accessible to the public – and to filmgoers who couldn’t find them in cinemas the first time around.

Despite the abysmal economy, Turkish cinema is sizzling hot here and abroad. With some 80 films made in Turkey this year alone, the country’s independent films are sweeping top prizes in the world’s biggest festivals. But would-be ticket buyers are expressing disappointment that independent films are hard to find – even if they are filling seats.

Internationally acclaimed director and winner of the 2009 Antalya Film Festival’s Golden Orange Reha Erdem recently pulled his latest film “Kosmos” from Turkish cinemas before its release saying he objected to the limited number of cinemas showing it. Surprised last week when he accepted the Yeşilcam Best Director Award for “Hayat Var,” he said the jury of 2,500 industry voters was nearly half the number of people who saw his film in theaters.

The filmmakers, who include Erdem, say they don’t want their films to always be in the hands of some distributor playing the role of benefactor. The caliber of directors in the new collective speaks for itself: Yeşim Ustaoğlu, winner of the 2009 San Sebastian Film Festival; Hüseyin Karabey, best director in the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival; Pelin Esmer, winner of this year’s Adana Film Festival; Seyfi Teoman winner of 2008 Istanbul Film Festival; Mahmut Fazıl Coşkun winner of the Rotterdam Film Festival; Özcan Alper, winner of more than 50 awards internationally; and Derviş Zaim with more than 17 international awards.

Alper noted that by law, for every 15,000 people in each municipality there should be a cinema. “Calling attention to this is something we can do,” he said. Funding distribution should be more transparent and effective, said Alper, recent recipient of a 300,000 Turkish Lira grant from the Culture Ministry.

But they say they are aiming higher than turning out more box office sales.For more than a year these directors and producers have met regularly to exchange ideas, pool resources and open a new independent film center, the first of its kind in Turkey. The center, they say, would provide resources, workshops and a place to meet filmmakers.

Filmgoer Sine Özsoy told the Daily News that she was thrilled by the prospect of a new venue for independent film. In all the hype about closing old cinemas, she said, “There’s a new wave of Turkish film and we need to support that… It’s about reclaiming the art of cinema,” Özsoy said.

The New Cinema Movement is building on the courage of previous generations of filmmakers in Turkey, said producer of Tatil Kitabı (Summer Book) Yamaç Okur. “We are still learning from them,” he added.

Hüseyin Karabey, director of “Gitmek” (My Marlon and Brando) said he couldn’t find a tripod when he made his first feature film. The group hopes to prevent this from happening to aspiring directors.

Karabey said their aim is to create a film culture that would move people to take part in society. “This group is not about personal benefit,” he added.

A lot of loneliness and passion go into filmmaking, said Inan Temelkuran, director of Bornova Bornova. “We hope to make the most of the passion and feel a little less lonely in the process,” he said. The real work should be in defining the context and language of the movie, Temelkuran added, “not getting it made or distributed.”

The Turkish public doesn’t know Reha Erdem, one of the country’s finest directors, said Temelkuran. “We want to change that,” he said.

resource: hurriyet daily news KRISTEN STEVENS


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Mar 11

Nuri Bilge is one of the Top 50 European Directors Currently Working

By LTFF Films and Directors 1 Comment »

Nuri Bilge Ceyaln has been listed as 17th in the 50 greatest European directors currently working within the field by LastSite.

According to article each has been rated and the results are a comprehensive top 50. Directors are scored by their average IMDB score (all their film scores divided by total films), the amount of awards they have won and been nominated for and finally three categories judged by LastSite (Style, Originality, and Filmography, that being the strengh of their entire body of work)

All profiles taken from either IMDB, The Auteurs or Wikipedia.

Awards and nominations compiled from the following awarding bodies: Cannes, Sundance, Berlin Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival, Academy Awards, BAFTAs, Golden Globes and European film institute awards.

17. Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Turkey 1959)

Auteurs Profile:

Nuri Bilge Ceylan (born 26 January 1959 in Istanbul) is a Turkish photographer and film director. He is married to the filmmaker, photographer, and actress Ebru Ceylan, his co-star in İklimler.

Ceylan learned photography at age 15, and developed an interest in film at 22. After graduating from Boğaziçi University with a BSc degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, he went on with his studies on cinema for two years at Mimar Sinan University.

Ceylan’s first short film Koza (Cocoon) was screened in the Cannes Film Festival in 1995. He received many awards with his debut feature Kasaba (Small Town). His third feature Uzak (Distant) received many awards including the Grand Jury Prize and the Best Actor Prize at Cannes, and was praised internationally. His 2006 film Iklimler (Climates) won the FIPRESCI Movie Critics’ Award at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival and received international praise by critics and experts. The film won 5 awards at the 2006 Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, bringing him the “Best Director” title. During the preparation of this movie, Ceylan turned his attentions to photography again. He won the best director award in the 2008 Cannes Film Festival for Üç Maymun (Three Monkeys). At the end of his speech, Ceylan stated, “I dedicate this award to my beautiful and lonely country, which I love passionately.”

Filmography (By IMDB Votes):

(7.60) – Uzak (2002)
(7.30) – Üç maymun (2008)
(7.30) – Mayis Sikintisi (1999)
(7.20) – Iklimler (2006)
(7.02) – Kasaba (1997)
(6.94) – Koza (1995)

Trade Mark: He is also a photographer which shows through the cinematography in his film.He loves snow very much and he always uses it in his films.

Last Site Favorite Film: Uzak
Upcoming: None as yet

Average IMDB Rating: 7.23
Awards: 6
Nominations: 7
Style (LastSite Rating out of 20) 16
Originality (LastSite Rating out of 20) 16
Filmography (LastSite Rating out of 20): 16
Total: 68.23

Lastsite’s Top 50 European Directors Currently Working

Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s IMDB

Official Website

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The Auteurs


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Feb 26

“Soul Kitchen” offers tasty treat

By LTFF Festivals, Films and Directors, News, Uncategorized No Comments »

Director: Fatih Akin
Writer: Fatih Akin, Adam Bousdoukos Cast: Adam Bousdoukos, Moritz Bleibtreu, Birol Ünel, Anna Bederke, Lucas Gregorowicz, Udo Kier Country: Germany

The film won the Special Jury Prize at the recent Venice International Film Festival and it can expect more rewards on the festival circuit and a welcome from art house audiences everywhere. It’s a delightful change of pace for director and co-writer Akin, whose “Head On” and “The Edge of Heaven” dealt with very serious stuff.

Co-writer Adam Bousdoukos plays energetic and likeable opportunist Zinos Kazantsakis, who runs a popular restaurant called Soul Kitchen in a neglected area of Hamburg. He prepares stodgy fare such as frozen pizza, fish fingers, hamburgers and macaroni and cheese; the service is abrupt and the music is loud but the customers are happy.

But then a tax collector takes away his sound system in lieu of back taxes, his girlfriend Nadine (Pheline Roggan) jets off to a new job in China, and his no-account brother Illias (Moritz Bleibtreu) is let out of prison on parole.

Intending to join Nadine in Shanghai, Zinos hires new chef Shayn (Birol Unel) after seeing him get fired from a classy restaurant because he refused to serve warm gazpacho.

Shayn, however, is a culinary purist and he declines to serve the dross that is the mainstay of the Soul Kitchen. He promises Zinos that he will make four dishes that his customers will love.

Almost overnight, the place is empty as the regulars flee from Shayn’s cooking and the noise of a raggedy rock band that Zinos has allowed to play in place of his confiscated sound system. On top of that, Zinos throws his back out while renovating his kitchen to please health inspectors and an old pal-turned-real estate speculator, Neumann (Wotan Wilke Mohring), starts hounding him to sell the property so he can flatten it for development.

The film follows Zinos in his attempts to save his restaurant, solve his back pain, win back his girlfriend and keep his brother out of jail. It’s all done with flair and a great deal of fun. The personable Bousdoukos actually owned a Hamburg restaurant for several years and he is right at home in the lead role. In a fine ensemble with many well-drawn smaller characters, Bleibtreu (“Run Lola Run,” “The Baader-Meinhof Complex”) as the hapless brother, Unel (“Head On”) as the fussy chef and Bederke, as a waitress, all stand out.

With brisk pacing, sharp ideas and eclectic music, Akin and cinematographer Rainer Klausmann make “Soul Kitchen” a place for audiences to savor.

resource: Reuters Ray Bennett

Reviews:
Bakiniz: Ruhumuzun Mutfagi
Indiewire Michael Koresky

Other
Fatih Akin’s BIO
Soul Kitchen’s Official Website


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