On 24th September 2009 "Soul Kitchen" will open the 17th Filmfest Hamburg, celebrating its German premiere at Cinemaxx Dammtor. "Soul Kitchen" is the sixth feature film by renowned director and producer Fatih Akin. The film's extraordinary cast reads like a best-of of Akin's films: Adam Bousdoukos of "Short Sharp Shock", Moritz Bleibtreu of "In July" and "Solino" and Birol Ünel of "Head On".

For Festival Director Albert Wiederspiel "Soul Kitchen" signifies "a declaration of love for the metropolis of Hamburg. This good-humoured film about the city's different cultures and subcultures makes you proud to live in Hamburg. Filmfest Hamburg could not have hoped for a better opening film." Hamburg-born Fatih Akin is happy that "the premiere of my very personal homage to Hamburg is taking place here, in the presence of the many participating actors and actresses from Hamburg."

The script by Fatih Akin and co-author Adam Bousdoukos tells a tale of home, family and friends, trust, love and loyalty, all of which need to be cherished in an increasingly unpredictable world. "Of the films I have made so far, this has been by far the most challenging. Making people laugh is so much more complicated than making them cry. But laughing encourages optimism!" says Fatih Akin about "Soul Kitchen".

As in many of his previous films, music plays a prominent role in "Soul Kitchen", its soundtrack coming across like a DJ set of forgotten soul jams and Hanseatic classics.

"Soul Kitchen" is a production by corazón international in co-production with NDR and in cooperation with Pyramide Productions and Dorje Film. The film's German distributor is Pandora Film Deutschland, and it will be released in German cinemas on 25th December 2009.

Please find more information on the film with the distribution company Pandora Film GmbH & Co. Verleih KG, telephone +49 (0) 6021 - 150 66 0, fax +49 (0) 6021 - 150 66-19, homepage: www.pandorafilm.de and with press agent Karen Rudolph of Boxfish Films, telephone: +49 (0)30 - 44 044 751, fax: +49 (0)30 - 44 044 691, email: info@boxfish-films.de, homepage: www.boxfish-films.de.

Further Information
Silke Cecilia Schultz (Head of Press and Communications)
Telephone: 040 - 399 19 00-29 or -17
E-mail: presse@filmfesthamburg.de
Homepage: www.filmfesthamburg.de

The 17th Filmfest Hamburg takes place from 24th September - 3rd October 2009 in the cinemas Abaton Kino, Cinemaxx Dammtor, Metropolis Kino, 3001 Kino and Zeise Kinos.