Saturday, 21 November 2009
A Spanish festival began with a Turkish director's film on Friday.
The latest film by Turkish director Fatih Akin, "Soul Kitchen", opened the Gijon Film Festival in the Asturias region in north of Spain that will end on November 28.
"I will make a four-hour film like those in 1960s, and in the style of Bertolucci or Leone," Akin told a press conference in Gijon.
The "Soul Kitchen" has already received awards at the Venice Film Festival.Defined as a gastronomic comedy, "Soul Kitchen" tells the story of Zinos, a German Greek, who needs to do up his restaurant "Soul Kitchen". His financial situation is tight, and to make matters worse he is being pressured by the local real estate sharks, his girlfriend has gone to Shanghai, and he is forced to take on his brother, who has just been released from jail. To the rhythm of soul by Curtis Mayfield, Sam Cooke, The Isley Brothers, Kool & the Gang and Quincy Jones, Zinos gives a classier touch to his working class restaurant. He recruits an odd mixture of colourful characters to help him, and together they make Soul Kitchen a fresh, unassuming comedy which took the Jury Prize at the Venetian Film Festival.
Born in Hamburg, Germany in 1973, Fatih Akin studied audiovisual communication, and in 1995, he filmed his first short film, "Sensin" (Du Bist Es!), followed by "Geturkt", in 1996. Both films received awards at numerous festivals on the international circuit. In 1998, he released his first feature length film, "Short Sharp Shock", which won the Bronze Leopard at Locarno Festival. He also received the award for best young director at the Bavarian Film Festival that year. His next feature films were "Im Juli" (2000) and "Solino" (2002). In 2004 he founded his production company, Corazón International, with which he made his subsequent films. His next feature film, "Head On", was received with great success on the international festival circuit, taking the Golden Bear in Berlin, and the Best Film and Audience Award at the European Film Awards. In 2005 he directed the documentary "Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul", and in 2007 he released "The Edge of Heaven", which received the Best Screenplay Award both in Cannes and in the first edition of the LUZ prize for European Cinema by the European Parliament.
