The Edge of Heaven

by Fatih Akin

The Edge of Heaven

Synopsis

Nejat seems disapproving about his widower father Ali's choice of prostitute Yeter for a live-in girlfriend. But he grows fond of her when he discovers she sends money home to Turkey for her daughter's university studies. Yeter's sudden death distances father and son. Nejat travels to Istanbul to search for Yeter's daughter Ayten. Political activist Ayten has fled the Turkish police and is already in Germany. She is befriended by a young woman, Lotte, who invites rebellious Ayten to stay in her home, a gesture not particularly pleasing to her conservative mother Susanne. When Ayten is arrested and her asylum plea is denied, she is deported and imprisoned in Turkey. Lotte travels to Turkey, where she gets caught up in the seemingly hopeless situation of freeing Ayten ...

Director

»The Edge Of Heaven« (Auf der anderen Seite) is Fatih Akin's fifth fiction feature and makes its world premiere in Competition at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. 2005's »Crossing The Bridge - The Sound Of Istanbul« presented the variety of music found in contemporary Turkey. 2003's »Head-On« (Gegen die Wand) won the Berlinale Golden Bear, as well Best Film at the German and European Film Awards. Fatih Akin was born in 1973 in Hamburg of Turkish parentage. While studying Visual Communications at Hamburg's College of Fine Arts, he wrote and directed his first short in 1995: »Sensin - You're the one!« (Sensin - Du bist es!), which received the Audience Award at the Hamburg International Short Film Festival, followed by »Weed« (Getürkt, 1996). His first feature, »Short Sharp Shock« (Kurz und Schmerzlos, 1998), won Locarno's Bronze Leopard and the Bavarian Film Award for Best Young Director.

Filmography:

2009 »Soul Kitchen«
2007 »The Edge Of Heaven« (Auf der anderen Seite)
2005 »Crossing The Bridge - The Sound Of Istanbul« (Documentary)
2004 »Head-On« (Gegen die Wand)
2002 »Solino«
2001 »Wir haben vergessen zurückzukehren« (Documentary)
2000 »In July« (Im July)
1998 »Short Sharp Shock« (Kurz und schmerzlos)

Cast

Nurgül Yeşilçay - Ayten Öztürk
Baki Davrak - Nejat Aksu
Patrycia Ziolkowska - Lotte Staub
Nursel Köse - Yeter Öztürk
Tuncel Kurtiz - Ali Aksu
Hanna Schygulla - Susanne Staub

Crew

Written and directed by: Fatih Akin
Producers: Andreas Thiel, Klaus Maeck, Fatih Akin
Commissioning Editor: Jeanette Würl (NDR)
Director Of Photography: Rainer Klausmann (BVK)
Editor: Andrew Bird
Music Composer: Shantel, Sound, Kai Lüde
Sound Mix: Richard Borowski
Costumes: Katrin Aschendorf
A production of: Corazón International, in Co-Production with Anka Film, NDR, Dorje Film
With support of FFA, BKM, Filmförderung Hamburg, Filmstiftung NRW, Nordmedia, Kulturelle Filmförderung Schleswig-Holstein

Technical Data

Format: 35 mm / 24fps / 1:1,85 / Colour / Dolby Digital Surround Ex
Length: 122 Min
Original Language: German / Turkish / English

Original title: Auf der anderen Seite

Artwork

Click here for the »The Edge of Heaven« artwork

Downloads

The Edge of Heaven
The Edge of Heaven

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