Building Bridges: Fatih Akin and the Cinema of Intercultural Dialogue

Abstract

Following a renewed surge in nationalist sentiment, German director Fatih Akin’s films have never seemed more relevant, or necessary, than they do now, as counterpoints to the prevailing atmosphere of ethnic tension. Akin’s work importantly poses ‘explicit question[s]’ about Germany, whilst concurrently exploring the sense of loss that Ezra and Rowden identify as the motor of transnational cinema’s narratives. Drawing on the work of Ted Cantle, a British expert in intercultural relations and advocate of interculturalism, I argue that Akin be seen as the purveyor of a new cinema of intercultural dialogue, which reinforces optimism that robust intercultural identities can be forged within ethnically mixed societies.