Cinema
All topics-
Al-Halqa in Marrakesh
Morocco's last storytellers
The art of storytelling has always been part of Arab culture. Yet it is a tradition with an uncertain future. Filmmaker Thomas Ladenburger's exploration of the world of Moroccan storytellers provides a fascinating insight into the intangible cultural heritage of humanity. By Melanie Christina Mohr
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″Hasret – Yearning″: Istanbul by Ben Hopkins
A director is commissioned to make a documentary about Istanbul. He starts to film its everyday life... but soon becomes drawn to the darker side of the city... its past, its secrets, its ghosts. Gradually he succumbs to obsession.
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Ahmad Abdalla′s film ″Decor″
Let the audience decide what′s real
"Decor," the latest film by the Egyptian director Ahmad Abdalla, is a tribute to the narrative power of cinema and to the eternal themes of freedom, love, and constraint. Christopher Resch watched the film
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Bangladeshi cinema
"Rana Plaza" film ban: the two sides of the story
"Rana Plaza", a Bengali film based on the 2013 garment factory disaster in Bangladesh, has been banned by the High Court in Dhaka. Deutsche Welle spoke to the writ petitioner as well as the filmmaker
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Werner Herzog′s epic ″Queen of the Desert″
Hackneyed melodrama
"Queen of the Desert″ tells the life-story of eccentric explorer Gertrude Bell. This well-bred Englishwoman was drawn to the Middle East at the turn of the last century. It’s the first time that Werner Herzog has made a female character the main focus of one of his films. The result is disappointing. By Jochen Kürten
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Interview with the Iranian filmmaker Ayat Najafi
"Freedom starts in the mind"
In his two documentary films, Ayat Najafi has focused on women who are fighting for change in Iran. Marian Brehmer talked to him about his projects and the difficulties faced by Iranian filmmakers
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The Indonesian documentary "Jalanan"
Love, humour, satire, song and struggle in Jakarta
Titi has to leave her children behind in order to earn some money to support her sick father. Ho clashes with the Indonesian police. Boni lives in a makeshift home in a sewage tunnel under an overpass. The three protagonists in the Indonesian documentary "Jalanan" all have one thing in common: they make a living from busking in Jakarta. Sandeep Ray watched the film
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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 Vahabzadeh
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A taxi ride through Tehran
This is a taxi ride like no other: Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi made "Taxi" on a shoestring budget. It not only offers a unique and humorous insight into life in Tehran, but also makes a bold political statement. To mark the film's general release in Germany, Qantara.de brings you a series of photos relating to the film and some stills
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Obituary: Omar Sharif
Egypt's sun has set
Omar Sharif played quiet heroes in monumental Hollywood epics such as "Doctor Zhivago" and "Lawrence of Arabia". A tribute to a great actor by Fritz Gottler and Sonja Zekri
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Joshua Oppenheimer's documentary film "The Look of Silence"
"I expected to meet monsters"
In "The Look of Silence", a man in Indonesia meets the men who murdered his brother, men who are still in positions of power. In conversation with Simon Broll, US film director Joshua Oppenheimer explains that his work aims to break through the trauma
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Interview with filmmaker Samir
An Iraqi odyssey
In his impressive 3D documentary "Iraqi Odyssey", the Iraqi-born Swiss filmmaker Samir combines the personal stories of some of his relatives with archive footage of events in Iraq from the Ottoman Empire to the era of Saddam Hussein. Igal Avidan spoke to him in Berlin