Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul 2005

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: It's a heady, occasionally free-floating mix, and a feast for music lovers. Read more

Noel Murray, AV Club: Crossing The Bridge was shot with an eye toward the kinetic, and cut with an impatience that shortchanges some of the artists, but keeps the rhythm lively. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Crossing the Bridge does more than offer a wide variety of entertaining and intoxicating Turkish music. It also uses music to paint a portrait of a vibrant, cosmopolitan city and provide a window into a rich and varied national culture. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: Even as Crossing the Bridge acknowledges differences, tensions, the provocative power music exerts on our hearts, it makes an elegant, head-bopping, hip-swaying argument that sound unifies. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul emphasizes the unique geography of the city to explain its eclectic music scene, and a generous sampling of performances clinches the argument. Read more

Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly: The music is gorgeous, and Akin's feverish camera shows an exile's love of the beautiful, crumbling but energized city as he pokes around its crevices, looking for recombinations of old and new, here and there. Read more

Stephen Williams, Newsday: It's a tasty sonic apertif to an unfamiliar world, and likely to inspire more than a few folks to make a beeline for the world music browser at the music store. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: It is our good fortune that Akin and his on-screen narrator, bass player Alexander Hacke, are our passionate guides through the country's musical history. Read more

Jonathan Curiel, San Francisco Chronicle: Akin's documentary gets its legs from the subtle questions it raises about Turkey's politics, nationalism, religious identity, cultural integrity and international perception. Read more

Jennie Punter, Globe and Mail: An enjoyable if occasionally maddening primer on the sound of today's Istanbul, a whirling dervish of a sonic tour with Einstuerzende Neubauten guitarist Alexander Hacke as your guide. Read more

Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star: The film's early insistence on Istanbul as a kind of Asian-European melting-pot crossroads ... ultimately gives way to an increasingly powerful impression of the place as a remarkable haven for stubbornly unyielding musical traditions. Read more

Time Out: Read more

Dennis Harvey, Variety: Read more

Derek Elley, Variety: One of the world's great cities comes vibrantly alive through its music and musical denizens. Read more

Dennis Lim, Village Voice: Fatih Akin's rich documentary follow-up, Crossing the Bridge, digs deeper into Istanbul's musical and social history. Read more

Stephen Hunter, Washington Post: An infectious (in a good way) documentary. Read more