Description

Everyone has their dreams and ambitions, and Ibo, the son of a Turkish family in Hamburg, certainly has his – to direct the first German kung fu film. It’s not an unreasonable dream, either, if the cinema ad clip he’s just directed for his uncle’s kebab restaurant is any indication. His uncle’s dismay at seeing something far more Hong Kong than Istanbul up on the screen melts away when the clip is a huge hit and his restaurant is suddenly packed (of course, the Greek restaurant owner across the street isn’t quite so happy). Smart, charming, talented and well versed in the lore of martial arts cinema, Ibo seems well on his way to bringing his vision to life when his German girlfriend Titzi drops a bomb on him: he’s staring down the barrel of fatherhood! Allah forbid a young Turkish man should be seen pushing a baby carriage, he thinks, and his father disowns him for breaking his first rule and getting a German girl pregnant. Is the future Ibo had planned about to go down the drain?

The experience of Germany’s Turkish minority has certainly been explored previously in film, in the well-received Head-On for instance (which by the way was directed by Fatih Akin, co-writer of Kebab Connection). But the usual tough, grim tone evaporates for this sweet, lively and entertaining mish-mash of a movie. It certainly tackles cross-cultural tensions and their effect on Ibo and Titzi’s love for one another (Shakespeare’s "Romeo And Juliet" is cleverly referenced), while tossing in a generous dose of character-driven comedy (a trio of Turkish gangsters are particularly fun). But keep in mind, it’s screening at Fantasia, so you can be sure that there’s a fair bit of cool martial arts action in there too. Mind you, the weapons of choice aren’t nunchucks or samurai swords, but good old doner knives!

—Rupert Bottenberg

Website

http://www.k-films.fr/distribution/films

Credits

Director: Anno Saul
Screenplay: Ralph Schwingel, Fatih Akin, Jan Berger, Anno Saul, Ruth Toma
Cast: Denis Moschitto, Nora Tschirner, Emanuel Bettencourt, Güven Kiraç, Numan Acar, Hasan Ali Mete, Kida Ramadan
Producers: Stefan Schubert, Ralph Schwingel
Distributor: K Films