Happy 47th Birthday, Fatih Akin! Born today in 1973, this German screenwriter, producer and film director of Turkish descent has won numerous awards for his films, including the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.
His parents emigrated from Turkey to Germany in the 1960s. His father worked in a dry-cleaning company; his mother was an elementary school teacher.
In his youth, Akin started writing short stories and scripts. Years later, he studied 'Visual Communication' at Hamburg's 'College of Fine Arts (Hochschule der Bildenden Künste)' from 1994 to 2000. However, Akin never went to a conventional film school.
In February 2001 Akin was a member of the Official Competition Jury at the 51st Berlin International Film Festival.
Three years later, Akin wrote, co-produced and directed the film of which he is best known. This was the 2004 German/Turkish drama/romance film 'Gegen die Wand' (lit. 'Against the Wall' or 'Head-On').
The film follows Cahit Tomruk (Birol Ünel), who stumbles from bar to bar in Hamburg, Germany, lost in an alcoholic haze. The boozy Turkish immigrant later crashes his car into a wall, which lands him in a mental institution.
While there, he meets the suicidal Sibel Güner (Sibel Kekilli). She convinces him to marry her, because otherwise her family will arrange her marriage to a Turkish man of their choosing.
She then proposes a deal to Cahit: She will cook and clean for him and they can see other people. Thus begins their strange romance.
The film premiered at the 54th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2004. While there, it won the Golden Bear, as well as the FIPRESCI Prize
On Rotten Tomatoes, 'Head-On' has a certified fresh rating of 91% based on eighty-eight reviews.
The website's critical consensus reads, "A raw, provocative drama about star-crossed love and the lives of immigrants caught between the traditional and modern."
The website's critical consensus reads, "A raw, provocative drama about star-crossed love and the lives of immigrants caught between the traditional and modern."
The film has been cited as a favorite of John Waters ('Pink Flamingos'), who presented it as his annual selection for the 7th Maryland Film Festival in May 2006.
In May 2005, Akin was a member of the Official Competition Jury at the 58th Cannes International Film Festival.
In 2006, Akin expressed protest towards 43rd U.S. President George W. Bush's administration when he wore a shirt on set with the letters "BUSH", with a swastika iin place of the letter "S".
Subsequently, someone filed a complaint and Akin was investigated by German police. However, Akin defended the shirt as "more than mere provocation" and emphasized the following:
"Bush's policy is comparable with that of the Third Reich. I think that under Bush, Hollywood has been making certain films at the request of The Pentagon to normalize things like torture and Guantanamo. I'm convinced the Bush administration wants a third world war. I think they're fascists."
In 2008, two of Akin's films were submitted for the Best Foreign Langugage Film category of the 80th Academy Awards for Turkey.
These included the 2006 German/Turkish drama film 'Takva' '(Takva: A Man's Fear of God') and the 2007 German/Turkish/Italian drama film 'Auf der anderen Seite' (lit. 'On the Other Side' or 'The Edge of Heaven').
In 2013, Akin was a member of the Official Competition Jury at the 13th Marrakech International Film Festival.
Among the members that year, the most notable were Martin Scorsese (who lead the Jury) and South Korean film director, screenwriter, producer, and former film critic Chan-wook Park ('Oldboy', 'The Handmaiden').
On his 2009 German comedy/drama film 'Soul Kitchen', Akin has said he chose this more light-hearted film because he needed a break after making the "tough" films like 'Head-On' and 'The Edge of Heaven' before making his next planned film 'The Devil'. "But", he says, "now I feel ready to finish the trilogy".
The filmmaker has once said: "The funnier it is in the beginning of a story, the more dramatic it can become. Because when an audience is laughing, that's opening their souls somehow, and when you have an audience with an open soul, it's much better to hit them with a knife.”
According to his personal like, Akin is married to German-Mexican actress and casting director Monique Akin. They have two children together. Fatih's older brother is German actor Cem Akin.
Monique appears in 'Head-On', credited as Kundin im Friseurladen (Female Customer in Hair Salon). Cem appears in the film as well, credited as Yilmaz Güner.
Fatih's hobbies include boxing and appearing as 'DJ Superdjango' in clubs.Akin is a fan of Jim Jarmusch, Martin Scorsese, Billy Wilder, Elia Kazan and John Ford.
Akin has been active from 1995–present.
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