German-Turkish movie director Fatih Akin (b. 1973), one of the main guests of Sodankylä Midnight Sun Film Festival 2009, met representatives of the press friday afternoon at Hotel Sodankylä.

Fatih Akin...

...on immigration and being Turkish:
"I want to believe that I have succeeded because I am a good movie director, not because I am Turkish. I do have different set of skills, different technique and visual language than other German directors, such as Andreas Dresen or Wolfgang Becker. Then again, I don't find the answer to our differences is that I am Turkish. Some directors have underlined their own background. For instance, when it comes to Spike Lee, for him it's all about being black. I try not to put weight on my background. I have never decided that I do movies about immigration. I first came to realize that I am a so-called maker of immigrant movies when the first reviews of my films were published."

...on becoming a director:
"Since I was a child it has been clear to me that I want to work in movies. Case has been the same with many of my colleagues. I had my first eureka moment when I was wondering the end credits of films and asked my father, what all those names were about. Then I understood that there were large groups of people behind all these films. I wanted to be one of those names when I grew up."

...on Turkish movie:
"In 1980's, watching films was the only way Turkish people living in Germany were able to connect with their own culture. Turkish people were the first ones who ever actually began to buy VCRs. Whole families gathered together to watch several movies in a row so that once the day ended, everyone had quadratic eyes. In fact, I did not like these movies at all, because they were sad and everybody cried watching them. And children hate to see their parents cry. Nowadays I am interested in contemporary Turkish films. I believe that once you understand the movie culture of a certain country, you understand the politics of that country as well."

...on being political:
"Every film is political. Also Dumb & Dumber is political. For instance, war movies are unbelievably influenced by Pentagon. I find myself an old school political, which means that I am fascinated with stories such as fairy tales for children; the moral of the story is always delicately hidden between the lines. I want to bother people. I am a political person, but not in a way of being a member of a certain party. I don't even have the time to vote in all the elections. But I ponder a lot that what is going to happen. Despite that, I have no certain political message."

...on his next projects:
"Next I am going to work on the third part of my Life, Death and the Devil trilogy. I'll start to write this movie, which goes under the name 'The Evil', shortly. Aki Kaurismäki blamed me for being too slow, he said to me: 'Young man, shame on you.' In last ten years, I have made six movies and he wanted me to be more effective. But I don't feel lazy. I work 365 days a year on films. I always want the end result to be good and finished. I don't want to go into all that 'what if I had more time' talk. If I proceed the fast way, I will finish writing the script in 2010, movie will be shot in 2011 and in cinemas 2012. If I go the slow way, I'll be done in 2013."

...on writing:
"I am a script writer/director and only this way of working is comfortable for me. Solino is the only movie of mine where someone else wrote the script. I prefer to write myself, but maybe, if some day I'm out of subjects, I'll accept a script from someone else."

...on Hollywood:
"I don't believe I'm ever going to go to Hollywood. I don't like to work with big stars, paparazzis and all the things surrounding movie industry. It's so very aggressive. I want to work clear, without all that. I have problems with authorities."