Most recent articles by Marian Brehmer
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Film review: "Aligarh"Sensitive portrait of a tragic story
A film about the fate of a gay professor at India's renowned Aligarh University highlights the country's difficult relationship with homosexuality. Marian Brehmer watched the drama
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Persian singer Mamak KhademOpen to new influences
Since the 1990s, the exiled Iranian singer Mamak Khadem has been combining Persian classical music with world music. For her new album, "The Road," she has discovered unusual Eastern European soundscapes. Marian Brehmer talked to the musician and listened to her latest CD
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Roxanne Varzi's novel "Last Scene Underground"Finding freedom in the catacombs
"Last Scene Underground: an ethnographic novel of Iran" by Roxanne Varzi, an American associate professor of anthropology, tells the story of a group of students in Tehran who want to stage an illegal play underground. Marian Brehmer read the book
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Pakistani film ″Dukhtar″Arthouse with a conscience
Afia Nathaniel's first full-length feature film "Dukhtar", has been enjoying a great deal of success on the international festival circuit – and causing quite a stir in her home country too. By Marian Brehmer
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The poems of Ibn ArabiInterpreting desire
The famous mystic Ibn Arabi’s 61 poems have been translated into German for the first time by Stefan Weidner. But are the poems really all that easy to understand? By Marian Brehmer
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The Syrian Musicians′ Orchestra play IstanbulHosts of honour
This year, the opening night of the 23rd Istanbul Jazz Festival was in the hands of the Orchestra of Syrian Musicians. The move had symbolic power in a city that is currently home to more than 300,000 Syrian refugees. By Marian Brehmer
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Interview with Mevlevi sheikh Kabir HelminskiSufism and the power to transform
The U.S. American and Mevlevi sheikh Kabir Helminski is founder of the international ″Threshold Society″ and one of the most important Sufi teachers in the West. Marian Brehmer talked to him about the role of Sufism in the modern world and the dangers of religious extremism
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Book review: Rasha Khayat′s ″Weil wir langst woanders sind″A life in limbo
In her debut novel, ″Weil wir langst woanders sind″ (Because we are already somewhere else), the Hamburg-based writer Rasha Khayat tells the tale of siblings caught between two diverse cultures. Marian Brehmer has read the book
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″Afro-Iran″ photo bookThe Persian Gulf′s forgotten minority
For a long time, little was known about the Afro-Iranian minority in the Persian Gulf. German-Iranian photographer Mahdi Ehsaei has been documenting their lives in portraits – Marian Brehmer presents his book
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Persian classical musicGoing their own way
For a long time, Persian classical music was considered untouchable. Now the sons of Iran′s great ustads have begun to change traditional music. By Marian Brehmer
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Book review: ″The Underground Girls of Kabul″Boys for a time
Segregation calls for creativity – in Afghanistan, some parents simply pass off their daughters as boys. Fascinated by the idea, Swedish journalist Jenny Nordberg decided to record the results of her research. Marian Brehmer read the book
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Syria and the "Lost Origin Sound" projectThe timely involvement of a punk rocker
In the years before the Syrian civil war started, an American punk rocker set out to record the country′s cultural heritage. Now Jason Hamacher is receiving requests from various cultural organisations planning the reconstruction of Syria. By Marian Brehmer