The Hamburg cult director Fatih Akin has celebrated a success in his "favourite city Thessaloniki", as he calls it. His latest film "Rheingold" was shown there on Saturday evening as part of the 63rd International Film Festival. "Our traditional Olympion cinema has been sold out for days," festival spokesman Giorgos Papadimitriou told dpa on Sunday.

The film fans were enthusiastic. "Fatih Akin has once again managed to fascinate us," said viewers after the end of the film, as reported by the cultural broadcaster ERT3. Some were also surprised: "For the first time, Akin is showing an almost pure documentary. Unusual," said Zane Balcus, the organizer and juror of the Latvian documentary film festival.

In his gangster drama "Rheingold", which premiered in October at the 30th Hamburg Film Festival, Akin describes the life of the Iranian-born rapper Xatar, from fleeing to Germany through poverty, crime and imprisonment to his rise as a rapper and producer.

The 63rd Thessaloniki Film Festival runs from November 3rd to 13th and features 99 films, this time focusing on the Middle East, the Balkans and North Africa. It is internationally regarded as an important forge for young talent.