Qantara.de - Dialog mit der islamischen Welt

Director Christy Garland's documentary, "What Walaa wants", which premiered at this year's Berlinale International Film Festival, tells the story of a young rebellious Palestinian woman who overcomes prejudice and adversity to pursue her wish to become a police officer with the Palestinian Authority. By Rene WildangelMore

Author and translator Kawa Nemir has just finished translating James Joyce′s masterpiece of Irish literature into the Kurdish language of Kurmanji. His aim? To build bridges between the Kurdish culture and world literature. By Tom Stevenson and Murat BayramMore

Samira Ahmedʹs novel "Love, hate and other filters" brings the reality of being the child of South East Asian immigrants in America to life in the guise of a young adult coming-of-age type story. Richard Marcus read the bookMore

″Central Airport THF″, the new documentary by Karim Ainouz intentionally turns the focus away from the image of refugees as victims. He is far more interested in how, under adverse circumstances, life endures in an atmosphere of waiting. By Rene WildangelMore

Among Kurds, Bachtyar Ali has long been a celebrated author. In Germany, he shot to fame when ″Der letzte Granatapfel″ (The Last Pomegranate) was published. Recently, "Die Stadt der weißen Musiker" (The City of White Musicians), the second of his novels to be translated into German, was released. Interview by Sonja GallerMore

Packed with more than a hundred single-page political cartoons, this compilation of Mohammad Sabaaneh′s work, which draws on different periods of the artist′s life, offers a complex and often surrealist take on the daily struggles facing those in the West Bank and Gaza. By Marcia Lynx QualeyMore

You would be forgiven for failing to derive anything positive from the title of Maya Youssef's latest album, ″Syrian Dreams″. After all, now in the seventh year of a vicious conflict, isn′t Syria more the stuff of nightmares? Youssef pushes back against the prevailing image, providing a glimmer of hope. Review by Richard MarcusMore

All his life Johann Wolfgang von Goethe felt a strong connection with Persia. Not only did he feel a spiritual affinity with the poet Hafez, he was also inspired and fascinated by the teachings and practices of Zarathustra, who lived in the first millennium before Christ. Melanie Christina Mohr reportsMore

Syrian playwright and dramatist Wael Kadour came of age in Damascus a decade before the revolution. His plays speak of life in his home country and social tensions across the Middle East. Interview by Laura CappelleMore