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Day 6Friday, December 14, 2007The Hollywood Reporter:Should “Edge of Heaven” be considereda sequel to “Head-On”?Fatih Akin: It’s not a sequel, but itis concerned with the same generalthemes. When I was developing“Head-On,” I conceived of thewhole thing as a trilogy — the Love,Death and the Devil trilogy. Thetheme of the first film (“Head-On”)was love, and the theme of this oneis death. They are all very personalfilms.THR: Unlike some of your earlierfilms, like “Short Sharp Shock,”“Head-On” was political, very concernedwith political issues. “Edgeof Heaven” is also a very politicalfilm.Akin: All three of the films (in thetrilogy) have to do with the politicalclimate at the moment — theEast-West conflict, where it is like anew Cold War. In place of the capitalist-communistdivide, you havethe new culture war between Christianityand Islam or democracy andIslam. This conflict is everywhere.You have it in Germany. You have itin Turkey. You have it worldwide.But you don’t see it in the cinema.So I wanted to tell, in a personal,subjective way, with personalimages and symbols, the contradictionsinherent in this conflict.THR: What contradictions?Akin: Contradictions like, forexample, that the forces at themoment in Turkey that are mostopposed to the Islamists are alsoanti-Europe, which is a contradictionin itself. Or like in “Head-On,” where you have the contradictionof freedom — where on theone hand it is liberating but in theextreme takes on pornographictendencies. In “Edge of Heaven”the theme is what is beyond allthese ideals, beyond politics,beyond ideology, that binds ustogether. There are six main figuresin the film and each one is an Ersatzfor Europe and for Turkey, for anaspect of the European-Turkishconflict. Whether it is a father andson or whatever.THR: “Edge of Heaven” movesbetween Hamburg and Istanbuland focuses on the difficulties ofliving in two worlds. You were bornand grew up in Germany of Turkishparents. Are you working out yourNationality: GermanBorn: Aug. 25, 1973vital statsFestival entry: “The Edge of Heaven”Selected filmography: “Short SharpFatih AkinShock” (1998), “In July” (2000), “Solino”(2002), “Head-On” (2004), “Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul”(2005)Notable awards: Berlin International Film Festival Golden Bear, “Head-On” (2004); German Film Awards best film and best director, “Head-On”(2004); European Film Awards best film, “Head-On” (2004); IndependentSpirit Awards best foreign film, “Head-On” (2004); Goya Awards bestEuropean film, “Head-On” (2004); Bavaria Film Awards best director,“Short Sharp Shock” (1998)Fatih Akin’s “Head-On” hit the international film world like a punch to the face in 2004. Afterwinning Berlin’s Golden Bear, it swept the German Film Awards and took the best film nod atthe European Film Awards. It also established Akin’s reputation outside of Germany as a directorto watch. After appearing on the jury in Cannes in 2004 and screening his music documentary“Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul,” Akin has delivered “The Edge of Heaven,” his firstfeature since “Head-On.” The Hollywood Reporter German bureau chief Scott Roxboroughspoke with Akin about love, death and growing up between two worlds.own personal history with this film?Akin: Yes, definitely. And also tryingto exhaust it. I’m hoping withthe third film that I’ll have run outof personal history and can go onto something else. But I have to tellthe story to its end. It’s more as ifI’m driven than as if I’ve made aconscious decision to do this.THR: At the moment you’re filminga documentary. What’s itabout?Akin: It’s called “Garbage in theGarden of Eden,” and it’s about aTurkish village that has been fightingthe state for 10 years becausethe state decided to put a garbagedump in their town. The dump isillegal, and the village is fighting forjustice.THR: You move between documentaryand fiction. After “Head-On,”you made “Crossing the Bridge: TheSound of Istanbul,” about Turkishmusic. Why do you like switchingbetween fiction and nonfiction?Akin: They complement each other.At the moment, you are seeing ablurring of the lines between documentaryand drama. One of myfavorite recent films was “Syriana,”which was shot in a very documentaryfashion, both in the visual styleand in the attempt to tell a story asrealistically as possible and impartinformation.THR: You’re also spending moretime producing. With your Hamburg-basedcompany CorazonInternational, you’ve producedfilms like “Takva,” which looksat the conflict between Islamictradition and modernity inTurkey. Why devote more time toproducing?Akin: Because I love cinema. Ilove stories, and I only have twohands, only two eyes. There are somany stories I’d like to see that Idon’t have the time, or the ability,to make myself. Being a produceris one way to get these stories onthe screen.•