The film was premiered at the 1998 Locarno International Film Festival and was screened at the 1998 Hamburg Film Festival before going on general release across Germany on 15 October 1998.
Following the release Akın said of the film, inspired by the work of Italian-American film director Martin Scorsese, that, "It took Scorsese and the other Italo-Americans 70 years to start making their films.