Film Review: Auf der anderen Seite (The Edge of Heaven)
Posted in conjunction with the course Multicultural Germany in fall semester 2015. Author: Kenneth Cromer The Edge of Heaven (2007), directed by German-Turkish director Fatih Akın, is an award-winning German-Turkish film that exemplifies the convergence of German and Turkish cultures in many regards, including heritage, language and lifestyle. Beyond the masterfully crafted intersecting storylines, an […]
Film Review: Auf der anderen Seite (The Edge of Heaven)
Posted in conjunction with the course Multicultural Germany in fall semester 2015. Author: Seri In The Edge of Heaven is a 2007 drama film written and directed by Turkish-German Fatih Akın. This film, set in Germany and Turkey, is in omnibus format in that it consists of three different episodes of ‘Yeter’s Death,’ ‘Lotte’s Death,’ and […]
Film Review: Am Rand der Städte (On the Outskirts)
Posted in conjunction with the course Multicultural Germany in fall semester 2015. Author: Angel (Jingwei) Li Am Rand der Städte (On the Outskirts) Film Production Studio: Harun Farocki Filmproduktion Running Time: 83 min DVD Release Year: 2007 Director: Aysun Bademsoy Writer: Aysun Bademsoy -Alone but not lonely. The documentary is a compilation of individual interviews […]
Film Review: Fack ju Göhte (Suck Me Shakespeer)
Posted in conjunction with the course Multicultural Germany in fall semester 2015. Author: Jasmine Giang Fack ju Göhte (Suck Me Shakespeer) is a 2013 German screwball/romantic comedy, directed by Turkish-German director Bora Dağtekin. It proved to be one of the most commercially successful German films of the decade, placing second in gross income in the 2013 German […]
Film Review: Head-On (Gegen die Wand)
Posted in conjunction with the course Multicultural Germany in fall semester 2015. Author: Andrew Christensen Gegen die Wand is a dark and dramatic romance directed and written by Fatih Akın. The film makes a powerful statement about the nature of love and family by exploring the unorthodox relationship between two initially broken individuals – Sibel […]
“Made in Germany: Identity and Memory” by Jung Woo Park
Last Tuesday, we had the opportunity to watch the film Almanya – Willkommen in Deutschland, a German comedy film about a former Turkish guest worker. The film was very interesting, not only because it deftly wove comedy into the history of the Guest Worker Program, but also because it reminded me of another film about […]
Winterblume (Winter Flowers)
Seventeen years before, Mehmet Umut illegally immigrated from Turkey to Germany. His presence was tolerated there until he became unemployed. Fearing he would apply for welfare, policemen were sent to his apartment to roust him from his bed and have him deported. Much of this drama follows the determined Mehmet as he struggles to sneak […]
Anam – Meine Mutter (My Mother)
color, Germany, Buket Alakuş, 86 Min, 2001 With actors Nursel Köse and Saskia Vester. Anam is a 40-year-old traditional Turkish wife and mother who lives with her family in Germany, where she works as a cleaning lady. When Anam finds out that her 20-year-old son Deniz has drifted into the drug scene and that […]
Points of Entanglement: The Overdetermination of German Space and Identity in Lola + Bilidikid and Walk on Water
Nicholas Baer Download PDF Abstract: In this essay, I consider how films have engaged with the politics of German space and identity in the context of the country’s National Socialist past – and, more specifically, in the context of relations between and among Germans, Jews, and Turks. I analyze scenes from two recent films, Turkish […]