Film Archive

Crossing the Bridge - The Sound of Istanbul

Crossing the Bridge deals with a director's love for a city. It is Fatih Akin, who is in love with the city and about to explore its sound.

The film describes a western point of view, a view from the distance, in a foreign, tense, erotic, dangerous, tempting city. It is a seeking, an odyssey, undertaken by the protagonist to explore the musical sources, influences and perspectives of the city.

Istanbul is burning. If Berlin was the hippest city in the early 90ies, Havanna at the end of the 90ies, it might be the beginning of the new millenium that gives Istanbul the role to represent Europe's ultimate megacity - you have to experience it! But does Istanbul belong to Europe anyway?

These days plenty of DJ's, musicians and artists from all over the world come to Istanbul. They are looking for inspiration, driven to lift the veil of the graceful beauty's secret.

Fatih Akin was born in 1973 in Hamburg and began studying Visual Communications at Hamburg's College of Fine Arts in 1994. In 1995, he wrote and directed his first short feature, Sensin - You're The One! (Sensin - Du bist es!), which received the Audience Award at the Hamburg International Short Film Festival, followed by Weed (Getuerkt, 1996). His first full length feature film, Short Sharp Shock (Kurz und schmerzlos, 1998), won the Bronze Leopard at Locarno and the Bavarian Film Award (Best Young Director) in 1998. His other films include: In July (Im Juli, 2000), Wir haben vergessen zurueckzukehren (2001), Solino (2002), the Berlinale Golden Bear-winner and winner of the German and European Film Awards Head-On (Gegen die Wand, 2004), Crossing the Bridge - The Sound of Istanbul (2005), The Edge of Heaven (Auf der anderen Seite, 2007), and Soul Kitchen (2009).
 

Genre Music
Category Documentary Cinema
Year of Production 2005
Director Fatih Akin
Screenplay Fatih Akin
Director of Photography Hervé Dieu
Editor Andrew Bird
Producers Sandra Harzer-Kux, Christian Kux, Fatih Akin, Andreas Thiel, Klaus Maeck, Tina Mersmann
Production Companies Intervista Digital Media/Hamburg, Corazón International/Hamburg, in co-production with NDR/Hamburg
Principal Cast Alexander Hacke, Baba Zula, Orient Expressions, Duman, Replikas, Erkin Koray, Ceza, Mercan Dede, Brenna MacCrimmon, Selim Sesler, Siyasiyabend, Aynur, Orhan Gencebay, Sezen Aksu, Muezeyyen Senar
Length 92 min, 2,530 m
Format 35 mm, color, 1:1.85
Original Version Turkish/English/German
Subtitled Versions English, French, German
Sound Technology Dolby Digital EX 5.1
Festival Screenings Cannes 2005 (Out of Competition), Pusan 2005, Rio 2005, Ghent 2005, Vienna 2005, Copenhagen 2005, Ljubljana 2005, Tallinn Black Nights 2005, Rotterdam 2006, Hong Kong 2006, Mexico City 2006, Sofia 2008 (Retrospective), Gijon 2009
Awards Audience Award Mexico City 2006
With backing from BKM, FilmFoerderung Hamburg, Nordmedia
German Distributor Pictorion Pictures/Huerth, NFP Marketing & Distribution*/Berlin

World Sales
Bavaria Film International / Dept. of Bavaria Media GmbH
Thorsten Ritter
Bavariafilmplatz 7
82031 Geiselgasteig/Germany
phone +49-89-64 99 26 86
fax +49-89-64 99 37 20
email: international@bavaria-film.de
http://www.bavaria-film-international.com

 
Trailer
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