Enlarge image (© Fatih Akin) As part of the "Deutschlandwochen 2011", we are continuing to screen seven films by German director Fatih Akin. Akin was born in 1973 in Hamburg to parents of Turkish origin. The lives of Turks and people with Turkish migration background in Germany are a recurring theme of his movies. His national and international breakthrough came in 2004 with his movie Head On.

The film "Im Juli" (In July)

Enlarge image (© Fatih Akin) Daniel buys a ring which bears a Mayan sun symbol from a stall run by Juli. According to Juli the ring will lead him to the woman of his dreams, whom he will recognize by a similar sun symbol. As she has the ring's counterpart, and has a crush on Daniel, she invites him to a party that evening. At the party Daniel meets Melek, who is wearing a T-shirt imprinted with a sun symbol. Convinced that she is the woman of his dreams, Daniel spends the evening with her. Disappointed, the next day Juli goes to the Autobahn to hitch a ride with no predetermined destination . As fate would have it, Daniel’s is the first car to stop. He has decided to drive to Istanbul in search of Melek. And this is the beginning of a long and exciting trip across Eastern Europe.

Fatih Akin, 2000, 99 minutes, German w/ English subtitles

Goethe-Zentrum / German Cultural Center
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