Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul

Fatih Akin (2005 )

Germany and Turkey

Fatih Akin presents a fascinating portrait of Istanbul through its diverse music scene, illustrating through the diverse musical traditions that co-exist in the city that Istanbul is, indeed, the bridge between East and West, a multicultural melting pot. Crossing the Bridge follows German avant-garde musician Alexander Hacke (the bassist of Einstürzende Neubauten, who also composed the music for Akin's recent feature film Head-On) on a musical journey through  the city, where he meets or plays with a range of musicans including some legendary figures such as Turkish film star and saz virtuoso Orhan Gencebay, the 'queen of Turkish music' Sezen Aksu and Selim Sesler, whose musical ensemble provided the chorus-like interludes in Head-On. These encounters are intercut with  bustling street scenes capturing the city by day and by night without panndering to tourist clichés and exposing te truly unique status of Istanbul. 

Posted by Daniela Berghahn on 19 Apr 2006 •

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