Soul Kitchen (film)

Soul Kitchen
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Fatih Akın
Produced by	Corazon International
Written by	Fatih Akın Adam Bousdoukos
Starring	Adam Bousdoukos Birol Ünel Moritz Bleibtreu Anna Bederke
Cinematography	Rainer Klausmann
Edited by	Andrew Bird
Production company	Corazon International
Release date	2009
Running time	99 minutes
Country	Germany
Language	German

Soul Kitchen is a 2009 German comedy film directed by Fatih Akın, with a screenplay by Akın and Adam Bousdoukos. Bousdoukos based the story on his own experiences as the owner of a Greek tavern named "Taverna", where Akın was a regular customer. Akın filmed the movie entirely in the Hamburg area.

The film had its world premiere on 10 September 2009 at the 66th Venice Film Festival. The movie received general release in Germany on 25 December 2009. Akın dedicated the film to his brother Cem, who appears in the film as Milli. The film also carries a tribute in the end credits to Monica Bleibtreu (mother of Moritz Bleibtreu), whose appearance as Nadine's grandmother in this film was her next-to-last cinema credit.

Zinos, a German of Greek descent, owns Soul Kitchen, a shabby, run-down restaurant providing working-class food in the Hamburg area, in an old warehouse space. The business is struggling financially, and tax inspectors ask Zinos for payments. Occasionally a punk rock band uses the restaurant as practice space, but never pays rental fees. An old sailor, Sokrates, continuously works on his boat at the warehouse, but is never able to pay the rent.

At a family gathering at an upscale restaurant, Zinos argues with his girlfriend Nadine, a journalist, who is preparing to leave on assignment to Shanghai. During that dinner, the chef, Shayn, has an argument with a customer, and the restaurant owner dismisses Shayn on the spot. Afterwards, Zinos meets an old schoolmate, Thomas Neumann, and his fiancée Tanja. In spite of their arguments over Nadine's assignment to Shanghai, Zinos and Nadine maintain contact via Skype. Zinos' incarcerated brother Illias, a gambler and hustler, is serving a prison sentence, and has "special leave" where he is allowed occasional leave from the prison, but must do community work as part of the terms. Zinos agrees to hire Illias to work at Soul Kitchen, to the disdain of bartender Lucia, because Illias has never had a regular job. Illias asks Zinos not to tell anyone about his criminal past. Later, Zinos injures his back when trying to move a heavy dishwasher. He has no medical insurance and cannot afford full medical treatment. Zinos meets a physical therapist, Anna, in the course of his recovery.