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Scheherazade in America

In her novel 'The Night Counter', Alia Yunis tells the story of a Lebanese-American family in the USA that has cut its ties with its Arab origins. In Yunis's book, Scheherazade, does not relate stories, but listens to them instead. By Volker Kaminski

The Difficult Path to Peace in Afghanistan

Many Germans are used to the daily images of war. A theatre in Potsdam has staged a play about the war in Afghanistan to get to the heart of the matter. By Silke Bartlick

Overcoming All Hurdles

A film about a family in Kabul that opens a literary café for artists and poets was shot on location. Despite death threats from the Taliban, Sonia Nassery Cole managed to complete her film ‘The Black Tulip’. By Homeira Heidary

"Islam Forbids Violence"

Honour killings, terrorist acts, the war in Iraq … in his song texts, the successful Muslim rapper Ammar114 criticises the injustice done both by and to Muslims. Nimet Seker spoke to him about his lyrics

"It's a Bastard Music I'm Doing"

His mother is Lebanese, his father is Egyptian, but he was born and raised in France. Consequently, his music displays a wild mix of various styles. Clotaire K fuses traditional Arab music with HipHop and Rap. A portrait by Tareq Al-Arab

Songs of Love and Tolerance from Israel's Melting Pot

The Idan Raichel Project is a musical collective that incorporates the sounds and influences of the many cultures and traditions that make up the fabric of Israeli society – Ethiopian, Yemenite, Arab, Latin American, Eastern and Western European, just to name a few. Marianna Evenstein spent an afternoon with Idan Raichel and some of his musicians in Berlin, where they recently performed

The Dictator, My Pen Pal

Critics complain that with Letters to the President, director Petr Lom has made a propaganda film for a dictator. Speaking in an interview with Igal Avidan, Petr Lom highlights the day-to-day absurdities of cooperating with the Iranian regime

Between Censorship and a Smash Hit

Her work has been a constant tightrope walk between tradition and emancipation, between freedom and censorship. The Iranian director Tahmineh Milani talks about women directors, their mission, and cinema

Freedom of Expression Is Not Welcome

The pubic prosecutor for the Istanbul district of Sisli has brought a suit against Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk, winner of the German Book Industry's Peace Prize. The reason: "public defamation of the Turkish people." A report by Gabriela Schaaf.

Bridging Cultures, Meeting Minds

The recent seventh Dubai International Film Festival returned to full strength this year. And the discussions showed how essential cultural platforms of this type are in the region. By Hanna Labonté