Yadé Kara
Cafe Cyprus

In ›Selam Berlin‹, Hasan Kazan witnessed the fall of the wall. In ›Cafe Cyprus‹ he tries to gain a foothold in London and is fascinated by the mixture of different nationalities characterising the city. Khan and Betty, Kazim and Sukjeet, Ali and Ayse are the friends with whom Hasan – a present-day nomad – socialises in the London of the early nineties. In Green Lanes, North London, he works in ›Ali’s Supermarket‹. In ›Cafe Cyprus‹, he waits on old Cypriots who still engage in embittered discussions on the solution of the Cyprus conflict. He also sells Kebabs with Kazim and clothes with Khan and Betty at Portobello Market, falls in love with Hannah, takes his mom, on a visit from Istanbul, and cousin Leyla to the city’s tourist highlights, philosophises about Englishness, and compares his experiences with Berlin and Istanbul, the cities in which he grew up. No doubt – everything is one notch hotter and tougher in London.

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