On the Edge of Identity and Hollywood

With the ever changing face of immigration and the increasing trend of Westernization, cultural identity is anything but clear for most people these days. In 2005, my favorite film of the year was Faith Akin's Head On, an in your face love story that takes place in between Germany and Turkey and just as the main characters have trouble sorting out their emotions, they also are caught in between two countries and two identities.

Akin, Turkish born and German raised, has a new movie coming out, The Edge of Heaven (Cannes winner for best screenplay), it opens in New York on May 21 at Film Forum.

“The Edge of Heaven” has its similarities in theme and some settings to “Head-On,” but it also reflects a more mature approach. The focus on parents and children may stem from Mr. Akin’s experience of becoming a father in 2005, when he and his wife had a son.

Still, “The Edge of Heaven” takes up the subject of cultural conflict for Turkish migrants that played to such powerful effect in “Head-On.” Those conflicts are universal, Mr. Akin insisted, rather than specific to the two countries. Mr. Akin, whose wife is of Mexican heritage, said that he feels great kinship with the Mexican filmmakers Guillermo Arriaga and Alfonso Cuarón.

“What I’m always trying to say is, this Turkish-German gap, you know, or this connecting element of the two nations, or systems, or worlds — you can change that and put other things instead,” Mr. Akin said. “Mexico and the U.S., same thing.” [The New York Times]

Next Akin is headed to New York to make a short film and while he is headed to the US, he isn't going to plop himself into the Hollywood machine. Beyond his honest portrayals of people trying to connect with each other and their heritage, Akin also stands out for his refusal to buy into the Hollywood system, ignoring offers to direct big budget films. European directors are often tempted by big paychecks to abandon their more personal stories only to make films like The Invasion and Flightplan.

For more on Akin, read the complete article in the New York Times and watch the videos below (one is a trailer for Head On - with French subtitles, and one is a scene from The Edge of Heaven)