Fatih Akin is preparing to bring Louis de Bernières’ historical novel Birds Without Wings to the screen, with filming scheduled to begin in Turkey in summer 2027. The German-Turkish filmmaker will direct the adaptation from his own screenplay, returning to shoot in Turkey for the first time since The Edge of Heaven in 2007. The production will be filmed and spoken in Turkish and Greek, adding another layer of historical detail to an ambitious project centred on a changing Anatolian community.
Published in 2004, Birds Without Wings follows a small community in southwestern Anatolia at the beginning of the 20th century. The story examines the lives of Christian Greeks and Muslim Turks as their long-standing coexistence is disrupted by the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the arrival of the First World War. Its broad historical setting gives Fatih Akin a large canvas for a film that connects personal lives with major political and social changes.
The adaptation also represents a substantial writing challenge for Fatih Akin. Louis de Bernières’ novel runs to more than 600 pages, while the film will have to shape that expansive material into a focused cinematic story. Fatih Akin has written the screenplay himself, making the project a direct interpretation of the British author’s work. Germany’s Federal Film Board previously listed Birds Without Wings as a screenplay project by Fatih Akin based on the novel and awarded development funding in 2024.
The production also carries personal significance within Fatih Akin’s filmography. The director last filmed in Turkey for The Edge of Heaven, which used locations in Istanbul and along the Black Sea coast in Trabzon, as well as in Germany. Nearly two decades later, Birds Without Wings will take him back to Turkey for a story deeply rooted in the region. Before shooting begins, Fatih Akin is expected to travel to Turkey in November 2026 to scout locations for the film.
Language will be central to the production’s approach. Birds Without Wings is planned as a Turkish- and Greek-language film, reflecting the communities at the heart of Louis de Bernières’ story. Rather than treating the setting as a simple backdrop, the bilingual format allows the production to preserve an important part of the historical and regional character that shapes the novel.
The Turkey shoot is only one part of Fatih Akin’s busy 2027 plans. In January, he is also scheduled to shoot the Berlin-based music documentary Anatolischer Drache, which follows alternative musician Gaye Su Akyol and her move from Turkey to build a new life in Berlin. The documentary continues Fatih Akin’s interest in Turkish music, following his earlier film Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul.
The project is being led by Fatih Akin’s production company Bombero International as part of a co-production. That involvement places the adaptation within his production framework while allowing the story to retain its Turkish setting. No cast or release date has been announced in the production information, leaving the director and screenplay at the centre as preparations move toward filming.
For Fatih Akin, the material offers a chance to explore the meeting of cultures during a period when relationships were transformed by war and political upheaval. The story’s focus on ordinary people gives the adaptation a human scale alongside its historical setting, while the Turkish and Greek languages can help distinguish the communities represented on screen.
As preparations move toward the 2027 shoot, Birds Without Wings is shaping up to be a significant new chapter in Fatih Akin’s career, bringing him back to Turkey for the first time since The Edge of Heaven in 2007. Fatih Akin is therefore returning to a country that has played a significant role in his cinema while taking on one of Louis de Bernières’ most expansive historical works. The planned 2027 shoot brings together a long-form literary adaptation, two languages and a setting shaped by cultural change, giving the filmmaker a substantial new chapter to develop on screen.