Author: Schayan Riaz

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Screenshot of German-born director Cem Kaya (source: BR)

Cem Kaya on Turkish pop culture

As multi-faceted as Asia Minor

Known for his documentary films about Turkish pop culture, German-born director Cem Kaya's latest work "Liebe, D-Mark und Tod" (Love, Deutschmarks and Death) focuses on the musical culture of Turkish migrants in Germany. He talks to Schayan Riaz about his creative processes, German-Turkish relations and of course, about the musicMore

60 years German-Turkish Recruitment Agreement: German-Turks take the arts by stormTurkish Arabesque songs: Sensitive machosMuhabbet: Rehabilitated crooner
Author and editor Fatma Aydemir (photo: Sibylle Fendt)

Djinns, migration and racism

"You don't have to be Huseyin or Emine to understand"

Columnist and editor Fatma Aydemir is one of the most scintillating voices in new German literature. In her latest novel, "Djinns", she tells a migrant family story from six different perspectives. Interview by Schayan RiazMore

Muslims in the West: Can democracy tolerate Muslims at all?0 years German-Turkish Recruitment Agreement: German-Turks take the arts by stormDaughters and Sons of Gastarbeiters writers′ collective: "When I go to Germany, I will buy a red tractor"
Ozan Zakariya Keskinkilic (photo: Meltem Kaya)

Muslims in the West

Can democracy tolerate Muslims at all?

"Muslimaniac" is what political scientist Ozan Zakariya Keskinkilic calls Western society's invention of Muslims as a problem: a shimmering term that mixes social construction and obsession with the passionate, ironic spirit of breaking free from stereotypes. Brilliantly and bitingly, he writes about consistent alienation and paves the way towards rapprochement. Interview by Schayan RiazMore

The West and Islam 20 years after 9/11: Paranoia, nowIslam the bogeyman: Tarred with the same brushFirst ever antidiscrimination chatbot: Meta: standing up to racismIslamophobia: Criticism of religion? Blatant racism!Islamic scholar Mathias Rohe on the muezzin call: "Traditional religious practice is not political Islam"
Former lawyer Said Haider and Meta initiator (photo: private)

First ever antidiscrimination chatbot

Meta: standing up to racism

Former lawyer Said Haider has invented a chatbot for those seeking advice on anti-discrimination issues – Meta is the first chatbot of its kind in the world. In conversation with Qantara.de, Haider talks about the development of Meta, his experience of discrimination and Meta's future prospectsMore

Official website: Meta AntidiskriminierungschatbotGermany's Faces of Democracy initiative: "Role models with a migration background more important than quotas"Germany's general election: Not enough migrants in German politicsAnti-Muslim prejudice on the German labour market: Suspicion and prejudice
Iranian-German author Siba Shakib (photo: Giacomo Terracciano)

Interview with Iranian-German author Siba Shakib

"The notion of home is bound up with loss"

Iranian-German author and filmmaker Siba Shakib was born in Tehran. Her best-selling novels deal with themes of heritage and the past. She speaks to Qantara.de about her new novel "Der Kirschbaum, den sie ihrer Mutter nie schenkte" (The Cherry Tree She Never Gave Her Mother), home, religion and the identity politics debate. Interview conducted by Schayan RiazMore

Modern Persian literature: Five Farsi novels and their impact on Iranian pop cultureBook review: Nava Ebrahimi’s "Das Paradies meines Nachbarn" – The scars of war Young Iranian women writers in Germany: Patchwork identities Interview with the Iranian author Fariba Vafi: "Cliches have no place in writing"
One year after the attack in Hanau: under the Friedensbruecke bridge in Frankfurt, a 27-metre-long memorial graffiti commemorates the victims of the Hanau attack on 19 February 2020 (photo: picture alliance / greatif / Florian Gaul)

Podcast on the Hanau terrorist attack one year on

"From 1990 to 2020 Germany's far right killed about 200 people"

On 19 February 2020, a right-wing terrorist murdered nine people in the German city of Hanau: Gokhan Gultekin, Sedat Gurbuz, Said Nesar Hashemi, Mercedes Kierpacz, Hamza Kurtovic, Vili Viorel Paun, Fatih Saracoglu, Ferhat Unvar und Kaloyan Velkov. Journalists Sham Jaff and Aline Jabarine talk to Schayan Riaz about the ongoing search for answersMore

Racist attack on Hanau: Not the only Nazi ideologue...Racist terror in Germany: ʺNever againʺ? Let’s hope so!Right-wing extremism: Halle, Christchurch… a network of "lone wolves"Protecting children from anti-Muslim racism: Stand up to the hate
Irish author and journalist Colum McCann (photo: P. Matsas/Opale/Leemage/laif)

Interview with Irish author Colum McCann

"Apeirogon" – an entire kaleidoscope of pain

Israeli Rami Elhanan’s daughter Smadar was killed by a Palestinian suicide bomber in 1997, Palestinian Bassam Aramin’s daughter Abir was shot in the head ten years later by Israeli border police. Irish author Colum McCann takes the lives of these two men as a starting point to tell a story of war, friendship, grief and hope. Interview by Schayan RiazMore

Interview with Israeli philosopher Omri Boehm: The Haifa Republic – full equality for Middle East peaceThe Sulha Peace Project: Listening for peaceJaffaʹs Arabic-Hebrew theatre: Model for a democratic, secular IsraelNew peace initiatives for the Middle East conflict: Two states, one homeland
Iranian filmmaker Shahram Mokri (photo: THE PR FACTORY)

Interview with Iranian filmmaker Shahram Mokri

"We are lucky to be alive today"

In August 1978, four men set fire to the Cinema Rex in the Iranian city of Abadan, killing more than four hundred people inside. The event is said to have started the Iranian Revolution to overthrow the Shah's regime. Forty years later, "Careless Crime" by Iranian filmmaker Shahram Mokri depicts four men planning to burn down a cinema in a contemporary Iran where ghosts of the past haunt the current society. Interview by Schayan RiazMore

Interview with the Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof: "Devils donʹt exist"Winner of the Berlinale 2020: "Sheytan Vojud Nadarad": There is no evil, unless it's perpetratedIran's 37th Fajr Film Festival: Politics collide with the big screen in Tehran
Journalist Melisa Erkurt (photo: Vedran Pilipovic)

Interview with Melisa Erkurt on her book "Generation haram"

"Teachers must be taught not to become racists in class"

Melisa Erkurt came to Austria from Bosnia as a child with her parents. As a journalist, she now writes about education, which is also the subject of her latest book “Generation haram”, which focuses on education’s so-called losers. Interview by Schayan RiazMore

Interview with journalist and performance artist Michel Abdollahi: "People with dark hair always have to go the extra mile"Non-fiction: Kubra Gumusay's "Sprache und Sein": Beyond the linguistic pigeonholeThe integration litmus test: Success for some means failure for others
Ronya Othmann (photo: Cihan Caknak)

Interview with author Ronya Othmann

Fighting the obliteration of Kurdish-Yazidi identity

Ronya Othmann's novel "Die Sommer" (The Summers) tells the story of Leyla – the daughter of a German and a Yazidi Kurd – who visits her grandparents' Yazidi village in northern Syria every summer until the village ceases to exist. Schayan Riaz spoke to the authorMore

Pursuing prosecution in Germany: Justice for Yazidi survivors of Islamic State genocide Dunya Mikhailʹs "The Beekeeper": Rescuing the stolen womenYazidis mourn their devastated community: Sinjar is not Mosul
Michel Abdollahi is an Iranian German conferencier, performance artist, painter, journalist and writer (photo: Asja Caspari)

Interview with journalist and performance artist Michel Abdollahi

"People with dark hair always have to go the extra mile"

Journalist Michel Abdollahi was born in Tehran in 1981 and moved to Hamburg in 1986. His big breakthrough came with his television documentaries on social issues such as integration, racism and right-wing populism. He spoke to Qantara.de about his book "Deutschland schafft mich!" (Done away with by Germany – What happened when I found out I wasn't German after all)More

Nine Muslims on right-wing populism: Should I stay or should I go?Racist terror in Germany: ʺNever againʺ? Let’s hope so!Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in Europe: Targeting the Muslim population: Presumed guilty
Extract from Riad Sattouf’s graphic novel "The Arab of the Future", Volume 4 (published by Macmillan USA)

Book review: Riad Sattouf’s graphic novel "The Arab of the Future"

Between worlds

Despite his main focus being on his childhood and youth, spent between East and West, Riad Sattouf also describes the current state of the Arab world in his much-lauded graphic novel series "The Arab of the Future". By Schayan RiazMore

Interview with graphic novelist Riad Sattouf: The eternal fascination with coming-of-ageLebanese comic artist Rawand Issa and "Not from Mars": Being illegal is unbearableQantara dossier: "Arabic comics"
Still from Haifaa Al-Mansourʹs ʺThe Perfect Candidateʺ (source: Neue Visionen Filmverleih)

Haifaa Al-Mansourʹs ʺThe Perfect Candidateʺ

When the patriarchy has better things to do

Haifaa Al-Mansour’s new film follows on from her successful debut, ʺWajdaʺ. In ʺThe Perfect Candidateʺ, the talented Saudi filmmaker again addresses the issue of equality. It’s her best work to date, says Schayan RiazMore

The Saudi Arabian film ''Wadjda'': A children's story in a grown-up worldBerlinale 2016: Interview with Saudi director Mahmoud Sabbagh: ″Testing the water... to make a change"Saudi cinema launch ends decades-old ban, public screenings start today
Sama standing on ruins in Aleppo in 2016. She holds a placard which says "This is Aleppo. What's justice?" (source: "For Sama"/Waad al-Kateab)

Documentary film: "For Sama"

The girl from a country in ruins

"For Sama", the film by Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts that was crowned best European documentary at the last European Film Awards, gives us a very personal view of the war in Syria and the suffering of the civilian population. By Schayan RiazMore

At the Oscars, 'The Cave' aims to provide hope to SyriaSyria’s White Helmets: Stigmatising savioursFighting for democracy and a free Syria: "Ideas cannot be killed with weapons" – remembering Raed Fares
Iranian-American poet Kaveh Akbar (photo: Gantschi)

Interview with Iranian-American poet Kaveh Akbar

Bridging the gap between outrage and fear

The renowned Iranian-American poet Kaveh Akbar writes in his poems about origin, religion – especially Islam, spirituality, the American dream and much more. Interview by Schayan RiazMore

Interview with the poet SAID: "I have defended my piety against the Islamic Republic"Book review: "I'm Probably Lost" by Sara Salar: Silent rebellionArtistic freedom and cultural policy in Iran: Art under divine dictatorship
Iranian director Schokofeh Kamiz (photo: private)

Interview with film director Schokofeh Kamiz

"I was surprised she wasn't a bigger sensation"

In early 2015, Pakistani activist Sabeen Mahmud organised an event on missing Balochi activists in her cafe. Later that day, she was killed by two men on the streets of Karachi. The documentary film "After Sabeen" is a very personal portrait of the woman. Interview by Schayan RiazMore

Pakistani film ″Dukhtar″: Arthouse with a conscienceInterview with Pakistani human rights activist Jalila Haider: "Women need to fight with all their might"Re-inventing the Taliban: "Don't you believe in Sharia?"

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