'In the Fade' and other films by Fatih Akin

In Fatih Akin's Golden Globe-winning and Oscar-nominated film, "In the Fade," Katja and Nuri Sekerci (Diane Kruger and Numan Acar) are a happy couple. Nuri's Kurdish background, however, proves reason enough for right-wing radicals to murder him. Akin's movie deals with the series of murders undertaken by the neo-Nazi group National Socialist Underground (NSU) across Germany from 2000 to 2007.

German-born actress Diane Kruger has made a name for herself through international productions; this movie is her German film debut. She took home the best actress prize from the 70th Cannes Film Festival this summer for her starring role in Akin's movie, as a woman who struggles to cope with the loss of her husband and child in a bombing.

In 2016, Fatih Akin received positive criticism for his film adaptation of the novel of two young men on a road trip across Germany's countryside, "Tschick" (titled "Goodbye Berlin" in English, picture). That positive feedback was repeated at Cannes in May for "In the Fade."

His previous film, the historical drama "The Cut," premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2014. It was an artistic and commercial flop. The film took up the subject of the genocide of Armenians at the hands of Turkey. Despite the film's ambitious intentions, it was for the most part an anemic historical epic.

Akin achieved his international breakthrough 13 years ago with the drama "Head-On," which captivated audiences at the Berlinale in 2004. The moving film took home the Golden Bear and established Akin's name as a director who could bring untamed emotion to the silver screen.

Then 25, the director made his debut in 1998 with the story of three young men in Hamburg's Altona neighborhood. The emotional power of the movie was unseen in German productions at the time. As the main characters had their roots in Turkey, Greece and Serbia, the film embodied an energetic multi-cultural shift developing in the country's cinema.

After winning prizes in Locarno for "Short Sharp Shock" and in Berlin for "Head-On," Akin's following work, "The Edge of Heaven," was also showered with acclaim. That film won an award for best screenplay at Cannes in 2007.

The director continued to receive awards and acclaim for his movies. In 2009, the Hamburg-based comedy "Soul Kitchen" took home the top award at the Venice film festival. The film, which follows a hapless restaurant owner, his girlfriend and his brother, showcases Akin's strengths: his feeling for dialogue, for unusual settings and a load of humor.

With "In the Fade," Fatih Akin is releasing his ninth film in German theaters. The drama takes on the racism within German society, successfully connecting a political story with a private narrative, without feeling moralistic or didactic. It is a "true" Fatih Akin film, filled with strong emotions.