Qantara.de - Dialog mit der islamischen Welt

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

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

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

"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

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

In her debut novel "A Place for Us" about an Indian-American Muslim family, Fatima Farheen Mirza conveys a universal and unique story, revealing the generation gap between the parents and their three children. In conversation with Schayan Riaz, the author talks about the lack of Muslim characters in fiction and moving out to become a writerMore

Of the many books, plays and films inspired by the story of the Islamic State movement, "Dear Son" by Tunisian director Mohamed Ben Attia offers something different. Far from the drama of the battlefield, he focuses on the anguish of the family that the fighter leaves behind. By Schayan RiazMore