Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul

Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul (2005) is a music documentary you can watch online on iFILM, directed by Fatih Akin. Musician Alexander Hacke of Einstürzende Neubauten arrives in Istanbul with recording gear and no fixed itinerary — just a city and whatever plays inside it.

Over ninety minutes he tracks down arabesque patriarch Orhan Gencebay, pop icon Sezen Aksu, Turkish rock forerunner Erkin Koray, Sufi electronica artist Mercan Dede, Eurovision 2003 winner Sertab Erener, and hip-hop duo Ceza and Ayben. None of it sounds like anything from a single tradition, because it isn't. Akin keeps the camera out of the way and lets the music do the explaining — which, it turns out, it can. Stream Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul (2005) online on iFILM.