Fatih Akin's Cinema and the New Sound of Europe

In Fatih Akin's Cinema and the New Sound of Europe, Berna Gueneli explores the transnational works of acclaimed Turkish-German filmmaker and auteur Fatih Akin. The first minority director in Germany to receive numerous national and international awards, Akin makes films that are informed by Europe's past, provide cinematic imaginations about its present and future, and engage with public discourses on minorities and migration in Europe through his treatment and representation of a diverse, multiethnic, and multilingual European citizenry. Through detailed analyses of some of Akin's key works—In July, Head-On, and The Edge of Heaven, among others—Gueneli identifies Akin's unique stylistic use of multivalent sonic and visual components and multinational characters. She argues that the soundscapes of Akin's films—including music and multiple languages, dialects, and accents—create an “aesthetic of heterogeneity” that envisions an expanded and integrated Europe and highlights the political nature of Akin's decisions regarding casting, settings, and audio. At a time when belonging and identity in Europe is complicated by questions of race, ethnicity, religion, and citizenship, Gueneli demonstrates how Akin's aesthetics intersect with politics to reshape notions of Europe, European cinema, and cinematic history.