Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul

Premiere Glenn Kenny

But after surveying pop and rock hybrids, Akin and Hacke go deeper. You will be very happy indeed to make the acquaintance of such Turkish music luminaries as Orhan Gencebay and Sezen Aksu, whose stories and personalities are as fascinating as their music.

TV Guide Ken Fox

You'll feel lucky for such a comprehensive introduction to Turkish music.

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

Whatever you think you know about Turkey, Crossing the Bridge will change your mind. With a dynamite album of music from the film in simultaneous release, I smell a "Buena Vista"-style crossover hit.

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

This new film feels like something of a gift, as if the director had decided to burn some of his favorite songs for his newfound friends, the world-cinema audience.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

This sensational documentary, which follows German avant-garde musician Alexander Hacke around the city with his mobile recording studio, crosses all kinds of bridges.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

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.

San Francisco Chronicle Jonathan Curiel

Has two main flaws: the emphasis it puts on German bassist Alexander Hacke, the film's ostensible narrator, who shows up in too many scenes, and the fact that it doesn't identify many of the film's performers until the very end. Even so, Crossing the Bridge is satisfying to watch.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Bill White

With adventurous forays into questionable neighborhoods and stimulating tours through street markets, "Crossing the Bridge" is about the city as much as its music.

New York Post V.A. Musetto

More than just a musical primer. It's also a valentine to the city on the Bosporus, the strait that separates Istanbul's Asian and European sides.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

It's hard to imagine what Akin left unexplored - but here's hoping he'll share his discoveries if he ever returns.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray

Hacke is in almost every shot, taking in the performances and sometimes singing and dancing along, inviting the audience to share in the joy of discovery.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

As filmmaking, the docu is only travel-diary so-so. But the chance to experience the machine-gun rhymes of ''the Turkish Eminem'' - a young man called Ceza - is priceless.

Variety Derek Elley

One of the world's great cities comes vibrantly alive through its music and musical denizens in Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul.

Village Voice R. Emmet Sweeney

In briskly edited sequences peppered with fascinating found footage, each genre is tightly linked to a neighborhood.

Chicago Reader Peter Margasak

The intimate performance footage ranges from more traditional sounds to Turkish iterations of global styles like rock, hip-hop, and electronica, delivering commentary on the nation's conflicted status as a bridge between Europe and Asia that's even more poignant than the passionate and informative interviews.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

An infectious (in a good way) documentary.

The Hollywood Reporter Duane Byrge

This musical documentary likely will find its major audience in Germany, where the immigrant-minority Turk citizenry will take to its array of sounds, smears and social commentary as cultural nourishment.

Austin Chronicle Marrit Ingman

The movie doesn't quite add up beyond its performances.