Praise for "Return to Europe: Istanbul" film by Die Zeit and Süddeutsche Zeitung
19 October 2008
The German quality papers Die Zeit and Süddeutsche Zeitung wrote on the Istanbul film of the "Return to Europe" documentary series, calling it a "fascinating kaleidoscope of impressions" and a "wonderful documentary". "Return to Europe" is one of the most ambitious TV projects on South Eastern Europe produced in recent years.
Die Zeit, Michael Thumann, "Türkei: Zwischen Chance und Selbstgefährdung" (19 October 2009). Also available in English.
"The film 'Return to Europe: Turkey' by Peter Beringer uses these wonderful images and yet goes far beyond them. Its sponsor, the NGO European Stability Initiative (ESI), was keen to present Turkey, its enormous opportunities and its constant self harm through the prism of the Turkish metropolis. The result is a fascinating kaleidoscope of impressions of a modern country."
Süddeutsche Zeitung, Kai Strittmatter, "Labor der Hoffnung" (18 October 2008). Also available in English.
"The ruptures, the upheavals, the forces that pull on Turkey and the ones that push it forward, all this can be studied in Istanbul. More than any other European metropolis this city is a mirror of its country – because half of Anatolia has migrated to Istanbul in the last few decades. Therefore, in this wonderful documentary, 3sat had a go at understanding Istanbul. The film by Peter Beringer set out to do the impossible: to explain Turkey in 45 minutes – and it achieves this goal quite well. It conveys a feeling for the conflicts, the dynamics, the diversity of the country."