Fatih Akin (Turkish: Fatih Akın, born 25 August 1973) is a German film director, screenwriter and producer of Turkish descent. He has won numerous awards for his films, including the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for his film '' Head-On'' (2004),

Best Screenplay Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...

for his film '' The Edge of Heaven'' (2007), and the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film for his film '' In the Fade'' (2017).

Early life

Akin was born in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

to Turkish parents. He has one brother, Cem Akin, who works as an actor. He attended the

University of Fine Arts of Hamburg The ''Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg (HFBK Hamburg)'' is the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg. It dates to 1767, when it was called the ''Hamburger Gewerbeschule''; later it became known as ''Landeskunstschule Hamburg''. The main build ...

to study visual communications and graduated in 2000. Akin has been married to German-Mexican actress Monique Obermüller since 2004. The couple live in

Hamburg-Altona Altona (), also called Hamburg-Altona, is the westernmost urban borough (''Bezirk'') of the German city state of Hamburg, on the right bank of the Elbe river. From 1640 to 1864, Altona was under the administration of the Danish monarchy. Alto ...

, close to where he was raised. They have two children.

Career

Akin made his debut as director of a full-length film as early as 1998 with '' Short Sharp Shock'' ''(Kurz und schmerzlos)'', which brought him the "Bronze Leopard" award at the Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland and the "Pierrot", the Bavarian Film Award for Best New Director in Munich the same year. Since then he has directed feature films such as '' In July'' (''Im Juli'') in 2000, ''We forgot to go back'' (''Wir haben vergessen zurückzukehren'') in 2001 and '' Solino in 2002. His fourth film, '' Head-On'' (''Gegen die Wand''), starring Sibel Kekilli, was a major success in 2004 and received several prizes, among them the Golden Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival and the "Best Film" and the "Audience Award" at the 2004 European Film Awards. In 2005, he directed a documentary about the

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

music scene, '' Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul'', which includes musicians such as Ceza, Sezen Aksu, Aynur Doğan and Brenna MacCrimmon. It is narrated by a member of a German experimental band Einstürzende Neubauten, Alexander Hacke, who also produced music for ''Head-On''. In 2007, Akin's '' The Edge of Heaven'', a German-Turkish cross-cultural tale of loss, mourning and forgiveness, won the prize for

at the 60th Cannes Film Festival in 2007. On 24 October 2007 the same film was awarded the first edition of the LUX prize for European cinema by the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adop ...

About the comedy '' Soul Kitchen'' (2009) he has said he chose this more light-hearted film because he needed a break after making the "tough" films '' 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". In 2012, his documentary film '' Polluting Paradise'' was screened in the Special Screenings section at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. His 2014 film '' The Cut'' has been selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 71st Venice International Film Festival. In 2017, Akin's film '' In the Fade'' was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or in the main competition section at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. At Cannes that year, Diane Kruger won the

Best Actress award Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress award ...

. The film was subsequently selected as the German entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards, making the December shortlist. ''In the Fade'' won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film.

Awards

* 1998 Bavarian Film Awards, Best New Director * 2004 Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival * 2004 European Film Awards, Best Film, Audience Award * 2007 Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival Golden Orange Award, Best Director * 2007 Bavarian Film Awards, Best Director * 2007 LUX Prize for European Cinema awarded by

2007 Cannes Film Festival The 60th Cannes Film Festival ran from 16 to 27 May 2007. The President of the Jury was British director Stephen Frears. Twenty two films from twelve countries were selected to compete for the Palme d'Or. The awards were announced on 26 May. '' ...

* 2010

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

for his contribution in depicting the problems of Turkish-Germans. * 2018 Golden Globe Award, Best Foreign Language Film

Filmography

Collaborations

References

Bibliography

* Barbara Kosta, "Transcultural Exchanges: Fatih Akin's ''Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul'' (2005)," in Martinson, Steven D. / Schulz, Renate A. (Eds./hg.), ''Transcultural German Studies / Deutsch als Fremdsprache: Building Bridges / Brücken bauen'' (Bern etc., Peter Lang, 2008) (Jahrbuch für Internationale Germanistik, Reihe A: Kongressberichte, 94),

External links

*
Fatih Akin Bibliography
(via UC Berkeley)

A talk with Daniel Bax on the film "Crossing the Bridge", tour guides and Vikings, music divas and the responsibilities of critical acclaim at signandsight.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Akin, Fatih 1973 births Living people Best Director German Film Award winners Best Director Golden Orange Award winners Directors of Golden Bear winners European Film Award for Best Screenwriter winners Film people from Hamburg German people of Turkish descent Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany University of Fine Arts of Hamburg alumni Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay winners