Scottsdale International Film Festival 2008

Let’s put it out there, simply and clearly from the start: THE EDGE OF HEAVEN is a superb film, a fascinating story that puts into clear focus one of the central problems of our times: the difficulties people have in connecting in a period in history where all has gone awry, where all coherence is gone. It plays out on a canvas that stretches from Germany to Turkey. The narrative is that of a hyperlink film, where numerous threads cross and re-cross, in which only the audience knows what’s really going while the characters struggle to find themselves and one another. Nejat, the son of a dissolute father, travels to Turkey to find Ayten, the daughter of the now-dead prostitute who lived with his father. Ayten, a political activist, has been imprisoned in Turkey. Susanne, a friend’s mother also has reason to find Ayten. How can their combined forces get Ayten out of prison and save her when they are unaware they are looking for the same girl. Back and forth, in and out, the threads of the tapestry criss-cross until there is a dénouement of sorts, that is, one in which the characters never do understand what has really happened. A simple message posted on a bulletin board could change everything. THE EDGE OF HEAVEN builds oh so carefully. It is an enthralling, thrilling, eminently satisfying film—perhaps the best film so far in the first eight years of this century. ~ Nick Salerno

AWARDS: Cannes Film Festival – Best Screenplay, European Film Awards – Best Screenplay