With the intention to break free from the strict familial restrictions, a suicidal young woman sets up a marriage of convenience with a forty-year-old addict, an act that will lead to an outburst of envious love.
Acting
Kekilli and Ünel weaponize vulnerability into something terrifying.
Direction
Akin makes Hamburg feel like a character drowning in its own identity.
Score
The punk soundtrack doesn't complement the pain—it screams alongside it.
Director
Fatih Akin
Sibel Kekilli
Sibel Güner
Birol Ünel
Cahit Tomruk
Güven Kıraç
Seref
Meltem Cumbul
Selma
Adam Bousdoukos
Barmann
Mehmet Kurtuluş
Barmann Istanbul
Stefan Gebelhoff
Nico
Catrin Striebeck
Maren
Demir Gökgöl
Yunus Güner
Cem Akin
Yilmaz Güner
Aysel İşcan
Birsen Güner
Orhan Güner
Bus Driver
Hermann Lause
Dr. Schiller
Selim Erdoğan
Taxi Driver
Tim Seyfi
Bavarian Taxi Driver
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Sibel Kekilli was a complete unknown discovered in a mall—her raw performance earned her the Golden Bear at Berlinale alongside the film.
Akin coined 'Gegen die Wand' (Head-On) to capture second-generation Turkish-Germans crashing between two worlds that reject them equally.
DE
TR
