Short Sharp Shock (film)
Encyclopedia
Short Sharp Shock is an award-winning 1998
film directed by Turkish-German director Fatih Akın
.
The film, which according to Rekin Teksoy
, writing in Turkish Cinema, "focuses on the identity crises faced by German youth from various ethnic backgrounds," was the feature debut of the German-born director of Turkish descent and is said to have, "represented a new German-Turkish cinema."
.
The film's director, Fatih Akın, makes a cameo appearance as the drug dealer Nejo.
and was screened at the 1998 Hamburg Film Festival before going on general release across Germany on 15 October 1998.
Following the release Akın said of the film, inspired by the work of Italian-American film director Martin Scorsese
, that, “It took Scorsese and the other Italo-Americans 70 years to start making their films. The Maghribi-French needed 30 years for their cinéma beur. We were much quicker. We’re already doing it!”
1998 in film
-Events:* February 14 - Sharon Stone marries Phil Bronstein.* Former child star Gary Coleman is charged with assaulting a young female bus driver at a California shopping mall.-Top grossing films:...
film directed by Turkish-German director Fatih Akın
Fatih Akin
Fatih Akın is a German film director, screenwriter and producer of Turkish descent.- Personal life :Akın was born in 1973 in Hamburg to parents of Turkish ethnicity...
.
The film, which according to Rekin Teksoy
Rekin Teksoy
Rekin Teksoy is a Turkish lawyer, author and translator.- Career :Teksoy taught courses in Istanbul University’s Communications Faculty on Art of Cinema and Cinema and Literature Relations for over twenty years. He served on the executive board of Turkish Cinematech Association...
, writing in Turkish Cinema, "focuses on the identity crises faced by German youth from various ethnic backgrounds," was the feature debut of the German-born director of Turkish descent and is said to have, "represented a new German-Turkish cinema."
Production
Fatih Akın had been working on the screenplay for this film, which was his feature debut, while he was studying at the Hamburg College of the Arts and working on his earlier shorts Sensin... You're the One! and Weed. The succes of these shorts allowed him to secure funding from the Hamburg-based film production company Wüste Filmproduktion for this film, which was shot on the streets of his hometown Altona, HamburgAltona, Hamburg
Altona is the westernmost urban borough of the German city state of Hamburg, on the right bank of the Elbe river. From 1640 to 1864 Altona was under the administration of the Danish monarchy. Altona was an independent city until 1937...
.
Plot synopsis
Gabriel (Mehmet Kurtuluş) the Turk, Bobby (Aleksandar Jovanovic) the Serb and Costa (Adam Bousdoukos) the Greek are three friends who used to form a neighborhood gang in Altona district of Hamburg. Following his release from prison Gabriel is ready for a new start on life. Bobby however has been doing jobs for crazed Albanian mobster Muhamer (Ralph Herforth) and his girlfriend Alice (Regula Grauwiller) turns to Gabriel for comfort. When Costa who has turned to petty theft and is dating Gabriel's sister Ceyda (İdil Üner) also joins Muhamer's gang, Gabriel intervenes to save his friends, an action which puts his dreams of retiring to Turkey at risk.The film's director, Fatih Akın, makes a cameo appearance as the drug dealer Nejo.
Cast
- Mehmet KurtuluşMehmet KurtulusMehmet Kurtuluş is a German actor of Turkish descent. He is best known for his work with German director Fatih Akin.-Biography:...
as Gabriel - Aleksandar JovanovicAleksandar JovanovićAleksandar Jovanović is a professional Bosnian Serb footballer currently playing in Ferencvárosi TC.-Career:...
as Bobby - Adam Bousdoukos as Costa
- Regula Grauwiller as Alice
- İdil ÜnerIdil Ünerİdil Üner is a German-Turkish actress.Üner studied at the Berlin University of the Arts. She received piano lessons for 17 years—starting from the age of 6—and formal opera training for two years. She joined the youth chapters of the Turkish-speaking theater Tiyatrom in Berlin of which her father...
as Ceyda - Ralph Herforth as Muhamer
Release
The film was premiered at the 1998 Locarno International Film FestivalLocarno International Film Festival
The Film Festival Locarno is an international film festival held annually in the city of Locarno, Switzerland since 1946. After Cannes and Venice and together with Karlovy Vary, Locarno is the Film Festival with the longest history...
and was screened at the 1998 Hamburg Film Festival before going on general release across Germany on 15 October 1998.
Following the release Akın said of the film, inspired by the work of Italian-American film director Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
, that, “It took Scorsese and the other Italo-Americans 70 years to start making their films. The Maghribi-French needed 30 years for their cinéma beur. We were much quicker. We’re already doing it!”
Festival screenings
- 8 August 1998 Locarno International Film FestivalLocarno International Film FestivalThe Film Festival Locarno is an international film festival held annually in the city of Locarno, Switzerland since 1946. After Cannes and Venice and together with Karlovy Vary, Locarno is the Film Festival with the longest history...
- 25 September 1998 Hamburg Film Festival
- 14 November 1998 Thessaloniki International Film FestivalThessaloniki International Film FestivalThe Thessaloniki International Film Festival has become one of the Balkans' primary showcases for the work of new and emerging filmmakers...
- 11 November 1999 Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival
- 29 January 2004 Febio Film Festival
- 25 August 2004 Fresh Films Festival
- 20 September 2004 Athens Film Festival
- 27 November 2005 10th Boston Turkish Film Festival
- 6 March 2009 Zlín Student Film Festival
Reviews
Katja Nicodemus, writing for Magazin-Deutschland, states "The plot of his first film, about a cordial friendship between a Turk, a Serb and a Greek, was put together right in front of his own front door. What emerged amidst red-light district bars, Turkish sofas and Serbian weddings was a lively image of a whole district, with its small-time crooks, its hussies and its local big shots. Short Sharp Shock represented a new German-Turkish cinema, expressing itself self-assuredly as it made its way onto German screens in the late 1990s. Interestingly enough, Akın’s most convincing films are still infused with the spirit of Hamburg-Altona, while the road movie In July (Im Juli, 2000) and the German-Italian family story Solino (2002) seem peculiarly anaemic."Awards and nominations
- 1998 Locarno International Film FestivalLocarno International Film FestivalThe Film Festival Locarno is an international film festival held annually in the city of Locarno, Switzerland since 1946. After Cannes and Venice and together with Karlovy Vary, Locarno is the Film Festival with the longest history...
- Bronze Leopard: Aleksandar Jovanovic, Adam Bousdoukos & Mehmet Kurtuluş (won)
- Golden Leopard: Fatih Akın (nominated)
- 1998 Thessaloniki International Film FestivalThessaloniki International Film FestivalThe Thessaloniki International Film Festival has become one of the Balkans' primary showcases for the work of new and emerging filmmakers...
- Best Actor: Mehmet Kurtuluş (won)
- Golden Alexander: Fatih Akın (nominated)
- 1999 Bavarian Film Award for Best Young Director: Fatih Akın (won)
- 1999 German Film Award in Gold
- Outstanding Feature Film (nominated)
- Outstanding Individual Achievement in Direction: Fatih Akın (nominated)
- 1999 Angers European First Film Festival Jean Carment Award: Aleksandar Jovanovic (won)
- 1999 Festival de Film d'Adventures de Valenciennes Distribution Award (won)
- 2001 Adolf Grimme Award for Fiction/Entertainment: Fatih Akın, Aleksandar Jovanovic, Adam Bousdoukos & Mehmet Kurtuluş (won)