Watching movies is an amazing activity to relax for many people nowadays. After a day of hard-work, what can be more satisfying than watching films and concentrating with amusement on the plots? Every Tuesday, cinema-goers in Kigali head to Ishyo Theatre Hall, Kacyiru for free movie nights: and on Tuesday, Mar.13, the hall was packed to capacity and the evening was well received. Gasping and chortles ‘Soul Kitchen’ is a lively, easygoing farce filled with high-energy music and amusing complications. It sounds like the least likely film to be written and directed by Fatih Akin. Or does it?Akin, born in Germany of Turkish parents, is best known for way-serious films such as the devastating ‘Head-On’ and the sombre ‘The Edge of Heaven.’ Though he had written this film before those two, he admits in a director’s statement that after their success, "I didn’t find ‘Soul Kitchen’ important enough.” He soon changed his mind and, aside from the desire to remind himself "that life is not only about pain and introspection,” it is easy to see why he did."I think it is a brilliant movie - I enjoyed watching it and got the jumps and howl a couple of times. It really is a genius movie,” Alexander Max, notes.  The ‘Soul Kitchen’ is not your usual movie in that it gives you more than the: Who, what, when, and where. And it goes into the real story— the comedy in this joint is as familiar as the food. After all, it does not pretend to be anything but an affectionate comedy that combines slapstick pratfalls with bawdy jokes. Romance, however, is about to provide a speed bump. Zinos’ upscale girlfriend Nadine (Pheline Roggan) is headed off for a multiyear journalism posting in Shanghai, and he would desperately like to join her. But he cannot bear to leave his restaurant even though the food he makes never manages to rise to the level of indifferent."The most interesting part in ‘Soul Kitchen’ is when Zinos tries desperately to join his girlfriend- but ends up in hot soup after he ruins her granny’s funeral. That was really hilarious so far,” Agnes Uwamahoro notes."This is a wonderful film and one of the most engaging documentaries I have seen. The narration is superb and the graphics outstanding,” she adds.

Synopsis Animated film comedy by Faith Akin (2009) German original with English subtitles, 99 minutes.The ‘Soul Kitchen’ is a charming local restaurant in a former industrial building in Hamburg: The German-Greek owner Zions dishes up fishcakes and potatoes salad, Hawaiian hamburgers and pasta bake to his girlfriend Nadine leaves for Shanghai to work as a foreign correspondent. Then the tax office demands long-overdue payments, whereas an official from the public health department threatens to close the whole the restaurant down. Not to mention the eccentric new chef Shavn who drives away the regulars and the property shark Neumann pressures Zinos to sell the bistro. Everything takes a turn, when a music school opens right next to the restaurant. The screening started at 6:30 pm. Movie night comes of ageFrom the time when Goethe-Institut Liaison Office Kigali, in partnership with Ishyo Theatre introduced free movie nights late last year, the initiative has come of age and people always wait for Tuesdays to go to the cinema and enjoy a wider space, watch interesting movies, interact with people and be more positive.

Why some people prefer to go to cinemas and to not watching movies at home It is apparent that one of the main factors that make people feel like watching films at cinemas is the bigger screen and realer sound they can enjoy there. Besides, cinemas gives people an opportunity to go out and get out of the confine of my house, and to interact with other people after the movie. "I like watching movies. Although I have the film DVDs at home, I still prefer watching films at cinemas – thanks for the Goethe-Institut for introducing the movie nights,” Sandra Uwera, a resident of Kigali, comments. "Watching movies in the cinemas is so exciting because you can laugh, cry and even be scared about the films with people all around you,” Steven Gakuba says."You can also talk freely with others about the film and the characters, which makes the films even more interesting and more attracting than at home,” he adds.Watch out for ‘Solino’, a fiction film by the famous German director Faith Akin (2002), original version with English subtitles, 124 minutes – at the Goethe-Institut on March 20.