Author: Susan Vahabzadeh

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Director Nabil Ayouch at the Cannes Film Festival (photo: picture-alliance/dpa/I. Langsdon)

Nabil Ayouch's film "Much Loved"

Sinner or saint?

Screenings of Nabil Ayouch's new film "Much Loved" have been banned in Morocco. Described as "an insult to all Moroccan women", the drama focuses on the lives of three prostitutes in Marrakech. It was a big hit at this year's Munich Filmfest. By Susan VahabzadehMore

Nabil Ayouch's Film ''God's Horses'': Ostracised and forgottenMoroccan cinema: The difficulty with taboosQantara.de dossier: Arab Cinema
Scene from "Chicken with Plumbs" (source: PR)

Marjane Satrapi's "Chicken with Plums"

Magical Gallows Humour in Tehran

Expectations have been enormous for the follow-up to Persepolis. Would it be a new masterwork full of rebellion and subversion? Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud have instead taken a completely different trajectory with their new film "Chicken with plums." The result is a wonderful, surreal melodrama. By Susan VahabzadehMore

Marjane Satrapi's ''Persepolis'': Stars and BombsThe Comic World of Marjane Satrapi: Yearnings for a Lost Homeland

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Most Recent Photo Essay

Land of nomads and desert: Mauritaniaʹs extremely hot and arid climate explains its very low population density. In 2009, the country had just 4 million inhabitants spread over 1 million square kilometres. The Adrar plateau, located in the north of the country near Atar, is known for its gorges and dunes

Mauritania, land of desert and contrasts

Mauritania straddles the transition between the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa, its population is equally divided between Africans and Arabs. Berber women carefully veil themselves with colourful 'melhafas', their feet decorated with henna, while Wolof women show off their beautiful skin glistening with shea butter. By Pascal Mannaerts (www.parcheminsdailleurs.com)