Director Akin takes German-Turkish "Edge" to Cannes

CANNES, France, May 23 (Reuters) German-Turkish director Fatih Akin's latest film ''The Edge of Heaven'', showing at the Cannes festival, carries on from his 2003 success ''Head On''.

Akin, who shot to prominence when ''Head On'' won the Golden Bear prize at the Berlin film festival, looks at some of the same issues of identity and belonging in both films.

''The Edge of Heaven'' (''Auf der anderen Seite'') tells the story of three families whose lives intertwine after two senseless deaths, one in Germany, the other in Turkey.

The action is divided between the German cities of Bremen and Hamburg and Istanbul, the setting for Akin's 2005 musical documentary ''Crossing the Bridge''.

Nejat, a lecturer played by Baki Davrak, goes to Turkey in search of Ayten, a young woman whose mother, Yeter, has been living with his father in Germany when she is accidentally killed during an argument.

POLITICAL ACTIVISTS At the same time Ayten, played by Nurgul Yesilcay, comes to Germany to escape the police after other members of the illegal political group to which she belongs are arrested.

There she is befriended by a young German student, Lotte, played by German actress Patrycia Ziolowska, who finds meaning in helping the refugee activist.

''It was also inspired by a lot of people I met during the 'Crossing the Bridge' film,'' Akin said.

''I met these political activists who were musicians. They try to change the world but they are musicians and that inspired me a lot.

For the first time I saw, okay, political resistance can be very sexy.'' Akin is less explicitly concerned with the issue of Turkish-German identity than in ''Head On'' but the question forms a constant backdrop to the film's central theme of love, death and reconciliation.

Germany's Turkish community of some three million, which grew out of the post World War Two ''guest workers'', has had an often troubled experience although it now forms a core part of German society.

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