Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul

Confucius says: when you come to a place and want to understand it, listen to the music that is played there. Not for nothing is he quoted in Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul. This documentary, by the maker of Head-on, forms a charming and committed investigation into the diversity and cultural stratification of the music that is reaching a growing audience in contemporary Istanbul. Akin travels with Alexander Hacke, the bass player of Einstürzende Neubauten, who first encountered the wealth of musical expression in Turkey when he made the music for Akin’s Head-on. His fascination with the unusual fusions of oriental and occidental music inspired him to compile a CD, that he put together using street recordings. This technique made it possible for him to travel round and improvise while making professional, live recordings. The documentary gives us a sense of the local roots as well as the complex origins and the recent new lease of life of Kurdish folk music, for example, but also rock music, traditional laments and hip hop. Major stars (Orhan Gencebay, Sezen Aksu), but also underground music have a place in the film. This turns Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul into an unusual portrait of Istanbul, through all the social and cultural layers of the Turkish population. (SdH)