German Cops
(Deutsche Polizisten: Viele Kulturen - Eine Truppe)
Germany, 1999, color, 60 min.
German with English subtitles.
In this fascinating documentary, director Aysun Bademsoy observes “foreign” policemen in the city of Berlin—men of Yugoslavian and Turkish background who have come to terms with their own cultural, social, and sometimes moral conflicts but still must face being seen as “traitors” to their own people and to the established values of their cultures. Bademsoy successfully balances the nuances of conflict that erupt as these men move between highly incompatible cultures, trapped in a dilemma to which no simple resolution can be found.
PRECEDED BY
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The Lovers of Hotel Osman (Die Liebenden vom Hotel von Osman)
Directed by Idil Üner.
With Idil Üner, Fatih Akin.
Germany, 2001, 35mm, color, 14 min.
German with English subtitles.
Playing the game of cultural identity is the theme of this short film, which follows a pair of young lovers from Berlin to Istanbul. Booked in a Turkish hotel that has strict codes regarding cohabitation, the quarreling couple attract the attention of the authorities. They manage to turn their lover’s spat into a classic Turkish husband-wife fracas, thus eluding detection and convincing everyone they must truly be married.