The Turkish-German director Farih Akin will be special guest of the 12th Sofia International Film Fest, which is to be held between March 6 and 16 2008.
Akin was born in Hamburg, Germany, in the family of Turkish immigrants. By the time he graduated university, he had already shot several documentaries, netinfo.bg said. His first short film Sensin-You're The one! was awarded at the Hamburg International Short Film Festival in 1995. A year later Akin’s second short film Weed also won several prestigious awards.
In 1998, Akin finished his first feature film Short Sharp Shock, which won Bronze Leopard award at the Locarno International Film Festival. Akin was awarded the Bavarian Film Award for young director.
The film that made Akin world famous was Head-On, released in 2004. The film won a Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival Berlinale, five LOLA Award, German film's answer to the Oscars, a Goya award for best European film and two European Film Awards.
Akin’s latest film The Edge of Heaven will be screened at the Sofia Film Fest. The film won Best Screenplay Award at the Cannes International Film Festival, the European Film Award for screenplay and the first LUX award of the European Parliament.
Akin is keen on music and plays as a DJ in the Hamburg clubs. He started studying cinema, because he realised he would never become a rap star. Akin plans to show his DJ skills before a Bulgarian audience.
