Qantara.de - Dialog mit der islamischen Welt

A book about young Afghan poets in exile casts a new perspective on Afghans in Iran. Marian Brehmer read the Oxford anthropologist Zuzanna Olszewska′s studyMore

The acclaimed documentary ″Street Punk! Banda Aceh″ is the work of film-maker and journalist Maria Bakkalapulo and her producer partner Niall Macaulay. This heart-breaking yet empowering film reveals how young people are striving to hold on to their identities and fight for freedom in the face of religious stricture and fierce opposition. Interview by Richard Marcus

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Raed Andoni's film functions as both trauma therapy and as an opportunity to discuss the political problem of prisoners. First and foremost, though, the film works as an impressive piece of cinematography dealing with the basic questions of the human condition. By Rene WildangelMore

Ever since the Erdogan regime began its crackdown on Kurdish cities and opposition politicians, numerous cultural professionals in the east of the country have felt the noose of repression tightening around them too. By Sonja Galler in Diyarbakir

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This February, a community centre in south-western England hosted a pioneering ″Songs and Stories for Syrians″: a weekend of art, literature and music not only for the enjoyment of Syria′s youngest refugees, but also for the English children who will live and learn alongside them. Marcia Lynx Qualey has the detailsMore

The winner of the Audience Award at last year′s Berlinale film festival is a story from Lod — or Ludd, as it′s pronounced in Arabic — a small town with a mixed Jewish-Arab population just a few kilometres away from Tel-Aviv, where Kareem and his girlfriend Manar use music to fight both the discrimination by the State of Israel and the violent patriarchal conservatism in their own community. Daniel Tkatch caught up with its director, Udi AloniMore

In her book for young adults "33 Bogen und ein Teehaus" [33 Arches and a Teahouse], Mehrnousch Zaeri-Esfahani tells the story of her life from ages five to eleven: the beauty of her native city of Isfahan, her happy family life, the torture of living under dictatorship in Iran, and her family's flight to Germany. It is a book of poetic power without a trace of sentimentality. By Thomas LindenMore

Thirteen musicians from seven countries came together to work on "Jinja", sharing not only a love of music, but another concern as well – preserving the Nile River. By Richard Marcus

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What are Syrian authors writing about their country? How do they write? Who among them can find the strength to capture the horrors of war in words? Stefan Buchen has been reading a monologue written by one young writer. Literature that emerges from the rubble and ruins of war, he says, may well strike a familiar chord – it just needs to be translatedMore