Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul

90 minutesCountriesTurkey
GermanyLanguagesTurkish
GermanBox office$704,094^[1]

Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul is a 2005 documentary film directed by Fatih Akın. The film is a journey through the music scene in modern Istanbul, Turkey as well as portraying its cultural life. It was screened out of competition at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.^[2]

It features German musician Alexander Hacke (member of Einstürzende Neubauten) as the narrator.^[3] Hacke and Akın travelled around Istanbul with a mobile recording studio and a microphone, assembling an inspired portrait of Turkish music — from classical music to indie rock and rap.

Among the featured artists in the film are (in order of appearance):

• Baba Zula
• Orient Expressions
• Duman
• Replikas
• Erkin Koray
• Ceza
• Ayben
• Istanbul Style Breakers
• Mercan Dede
• Selcuk
• Brenna MacCrimmon
• Selim Sesler
• Siyasiyabend
• Nur Ceylan
• Aynur (i.e. Aynur Doğan)
• Orhan Gencebay
• Müzeyyen Senar
• Sezen Aksu
• Sertab Erener

1. "Music" - Sertab Erener (5:18)
2. "Tavus Havası" - Baba Zula (5:27)
3. "İstanbul 1:26 A.M." - Orient Expressions (6:36)
4. "İstanbul" - Duman (1:40)
5. "Şahar Dağı" - Replikas (7:08)
6. "Holocaust" - Ceza (3:28)
7. "AB-I Hayat" - Mercan Dede (3:47)
8. "Kürdili Hicazkar Longa" - Selim Sesler (4:58)
9. "Wedding Song" - The Wedding Sound System (2:04)
10. "Penceresi Yola Karşı" - Selim Sesler & Brenna MacCrimmon (2:54)
11. "Hayyam" - Siya Siyabend (2:49)
12. "Böyle Olur Mu" - Nur Ceylan (1:34)
13. "Ehmedo" - Aynur Doğan (5:26)
14. "Hatasız Kul Olmaz" - Orhan Gencebay (5:24)
15. "Haydar Haydar" - Müzeyyen Senar (1:19)
16. "İstanbul Hatırası" - Sezen Aksu (4:38)
17. "Cecom" - Baba Zula (4:35)
18. "Music (Radyo Versyonu)" - Sertab Erener (3:47)

• Official website
• Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul at IMDb