Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul (İstanbul Hatırası: Köprüyü Geçmek)

Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul is a 2005 German-Turkish music documentary written and directed by Fatih Akın, his first feature-length documentary. It follows Alexander Hacke, bassist of Einstürzende Neubauten, who arrives in Istanbul without speaking a word of Turkish and roams the city with a mobile recording studio and a microphone, tracing its layered music scene. Along the way he meets Selim Sesler, and their conversations unfold through the shared language of music.

The journey, spanning classical Turkish music, indie rock and rap, also examines how the city's musical cultures intersect with society, everyday life and politics. Artists from different generations and styles appear, including Baba Zula, Duman, Replikas, Ceza, Mercan Dede, Erkin Koray, Aynur Doğan, Orhan Gencebay, Müzeyyen Senar, Sezen Aksu and Sertab Erener. Running about 90 minutes, the film was screened out of competition at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.