Author Archives: Kumars Salehi

This made-for-TV documentary film for the series Denk ich an Deutschland (“I think of Germany”) follows Turkish-German filmmaker Fatih Akin and his parents (Mustafa Enver Akin and Cem Akin), as they visit the village the Akin family comes from. The elder Akins were … Continue reading →

With actors Narges Rashidi, Marlene Metternich, Benno Fürmann, and Jascha Baum. Young Can (Baum) lives with his sister Segvi (Metternich) and his mother Elmas (Rashidi). Struggling to make ends meet, Elmas works in a brothel but keeps it from her … Continue reading →

With actors Josefine Preuß, Elyas M’Barek, Anna Stieblich, and Adnan Maral. Based on, but not occurring in the same timeline as, the hit German culture-clash sitcom of the same name, “Türkisch für Anfänger” finds Lena Schneider (Preuß) and Cem Öztürk … Continue reading →

Ali Samadi Ahadi’s documentary tells the story of Iran’s Green movement and the brutal repression of protests after the disputed presidential elections of 2009. Links: IMDB, YouTube (Trailer) Genre(s): Documentary

With actors Tahar Rahim, Hindi Zahra, Makram Khoury, and Simon Akbarian. In Fatih Akin’s monumental epic chronicling one man’s experience of the Armenian genocide and its aftermath, Nazaret Manoogian (Rahim) is spared from execution by an Ottoman soldier. Nazaret henceforth … Continue reading →

color, Turkey, Özer Kiziltan, 96 Min, 2006 With actors Erkan Can, Meray Ülgen, and Güven Kiraç. A tale of the corruption of religious authority, “Takva” (the Arabic word for “fear of god”) follows humble and devout Sufi Muharrem (Can), who receives … Continue reading →

With actors Adam Bousdoukos, Moritz Bleibtreu, and Birol Ünel. When Zinos Kazantsakis (Bousdoukos), chef at a struggling locals-only restaurant in Hamburg, is rendered unable to cook by  a back injury, he stirs things up by hiring a more talented chef … Continue reading →

With actors Hussi Kutlucan and Abdurrahman Selvitop. Sick of urban life and his family in Berlin, Süleyman (writer-director Kutlucan) travels to his hometown in Anatolia in search of adventure. Looking for excitement with his uncle, Arzuman (Selvitop), he fails to … Continue reading →

With actors Moritz Bleibtreu, Barnaby Metschurat, Gigi Savoia, Patrycia Ziolkowska, and Antonella Attili. 20 years after Romano Amato (Savoia), his wife Rosa (Attili) move their family from Italy to Germany, the two sons Giancarlo (Bleibtreu) and Gigi (Metschurat) have a … Continue reading →

With actors Doğan İzci, Hasan Özdemir and Ozan Çelik. Aslan (İzci), a young Turkish boy, befriends a fighting dog named Sivas. His brother Şahin takes him to watch the dogfights, and one day, when Sivas is wounded and left for dead, Aslan … Continue reading →

With actors Ayten Erten, Jürgen Prochnow, Aras Ören, and Aliki Georgouli. Shirin (Erten), a young Turkish woman, leaves Anatolia in search of Mahmud, to whom she was betrothed as a child, traveling first to Cologne, where she finds work and … Continue reading →

With actors Fatih Akin and Adam Bousdoukos. Fatih Akin’s first film, this short comedy won the Audience Award at the International Short Film Festival Hamburg in 1996. Kubilei, a young Turkish man in Hamburg, Germany, knows his dream woman will … Continue reading →

color, Germany, Lars Becker, 77 Min, 1992 With actors Diego Wallraff, Christian Redl, and Alfred Kleinheinz. When incarcerated gangster Eddi (Wallraff) finds out his new friend Timbe (Kleinheinz), a deserter from an African country where he faces a death sentence, … Continue reading →

With actors Idil Üner and Daniel Krauss. The German Film and Television Academy (DFFB) graduation film of Verena S. Freytag, credited pseudonymously as Sülbiye Günar, originally aired on ZDF television and follows the travails of a young couple, Turkish-German Saniye (Üner) … Continue reading →

With actors Navid Navid, Anna Böger, and Michael Niavarani. Mohsen Taheri (Navid), an Iranian-German butcher’s son is on his way to Poland to acquire sheep in a bid to save his father’s business. Along the way, he stops in a … Continue reading →