“Darfur's Skeleton” (USA 2009, original Arabic version with English subtitles, 52 mins) by Hisham Haj Omar on Wednesday, 16 September 2015 at 18:45 (6:45 pm) at Filmrauschpalast cinema, Lehrter Strasse 35, 10557 Berlin-Moabit 14km.org presents the fourth event of the 14km Film and Discussion Series 2015: The film “Darfur's Skeleton” (Arabic with English subtitles) focuses on explaining the causes of the conflict and the citizen suffering resulting from the war in Darfur. Sudanese director Hisham Haj Omar a.k.a. hajooj creates a moving and original statement of Darfurians experiencing the crisis first-hand, including the environmental and social effects of the civil war in Darfur. The movie is followed by a moderated open conversation and audience discussion with invited guests to deepen insights about the history of the Darfur conflict and consequences for today's society and politics in Sudan. Attendance is free, donations are welcome. The event takes place at Filmrauschpalast cinema on the 1st floor of the Kulturfabrik's backyard building  in Berlin Moabit: Lehrter Straße 35, 10557 Berlin. The discussion ends at 22:00 (10 pm) at the latest. Facebook event Film links:  Film homepage  Director's CV The 14km Film and Discussion Series 2015 gets sponsorship by budgetary funds of the Federal State of Berlin – Office for Development Cooperation. Further events are scheduled as followed: 07 October / 28 October / 18 November / 9 December The events are dedicatet to a single country or specific topic, in order to give an artistic-documentary impression . The ensuing audience discussion aims to include further informations by an affected person living in Berlin and by an scientific expert, always aiming to make links to North-South relationships. We express thanks for the support:

„EXPEDITION YEMEN. 126 Degrees in the Shade.“ (Documentary, Sweden 2014, in the original with English subtitles, 58 mins) by Mikael Strandberg     on Wednesday, 26 August 2015 at 18:45 (6:45 pm)     at Filmrauschpalast cinema, Lehrter Strasse 35, 10557 Berlin Moabit 14km.org presents the third event of the 14km Film and Discussion Series 2015: Getting to know more about Yemen is the issue of 14km's August event. The evening starts with the film "Expedition Yemen" (English, Arabic and Swedish with English subtitles) in which Mikael Strandberg discovers the country with his European adventurer's eyes. He documents his experiment to travel through the country by camel, showing his experiences and encounters in a state which is considered to be one of the most dangerous on earth for western tourists. The following open conversation and audience discussion with invited guests will improve the picture of Yemen with Yemenite guests and scientific expertise. In addition to insights in Yemen's culture, the current social and political situation will be discussed. The discussion will be held in German. Attendance is free, donations are welcome. The event takes place at Filmrauschpalast cinema on the 1st floor of the Kulturfabrik's backyard building  in Berlin Moabit: Lehrter Straße 35, 10557 Berlin. The discussion ends at 22:00 (10 pm) at the latest. Facebook-Event Movie links: Film homepage Distribution Information Director's comment The 14km Film and Discussion Series 2015 gets sponsorship by budgetary funds of the Federal State of Berlin – Office for Development Cooperation. Further events are scheduled as followed: 16 September / 07 October / 28 October / 18 November / 9 December The events are dedicatet to a single country or specific topic, in order to give an artistic-documentary impression . The ensuing audience discussion aims to include further informations by an affected person living in Berlin and by an scientific expert, always aiming to make links to North-South relationships.   We express thanks for the support:        

Children and their world view are at the centre of Bahman Ghobadi's film which combines elements of fiction and documentary to depict the situation faced by refugee children in Kurdish Iraq in the early 1990s and after 2003 US invasion. Although this second film in 14km's Film and Discussion Series dates from 2004, its messages remain poignant in light of today's oppressive acts and the tragic fate of refugees under the violent terrorist organisation Islamic State. That the film is concerned with children's perspectives is clear from its very title: "turtles" is a euphemism for anti-personnel mines, which Kurdish refugee children, many of them orphans, diffuse in order to make a living. Despite some children suffering brutal mutilation, with legs and arms partially missing, the leader of the operation - "Satellite" - appears unconcerned: "These are the best - they no longer have  fear." While the children may well have lost their fear of the mines, traumatic memories of lost parents and siblings, abuse and rape, haunt them daily as they suffer hunger and poverty in the miserable conditions of a refugee camp. Barbed wire fences and tank wrecks, mud, dirty clothes, makeshift tents and a barren rocky landscape are the backdrop in front of which the children, impressively energetic and full of mutual solidarity, struggle to survive. Sadly, not all the children are able to look positively ahead. The film begins with Agrin, a 14 year old refugee girl, standing atop the cliffs. After suffering rape at the hands of Baath soldiers, she has delivered a son who she cannot bring herself to love. Despite support from her brother and Satellite, she ultimately drowns her son before throwing herself off the cliffs. Director Bahman Ghobadi described his film as "a movie not only by, but also for children". With dramatic scenes, he gives the viewer a sense of the horrors of war and persecution.  While the 2003 US invasion may have liberated Iraqi Kurds from oppression at the hands of Saddam Hussein and his Baathist Regime, this film presents the disillusioned perspective of children whose euphoria is muted by yet another episode of war. As pessimistically as the film ends, the situation for Kurds in Iraq has not much improved since 2003, according to invited experts who took part in a discussion after the film. Dr Karin Mlodoch of Haukari e.V., an association that works for the protection of women in situations of violence and crisis and is active in northern Iraq, was joined by Dr Awat Asadi, a political scientist at the Centre for Kurdish Studies in Bonn, to place the film in its historical context and share their insights into the region's contemporary developments and challenges. "Very shocked" was Dr Mlodoch's response to the film - especially for its evocation of images from the 1990s, when northern Iraq was effectively "one big refugee camp". Moreover, the viewing could not prevent images coming to mind of the current wave of kidnapping and enslavement of women and children at the hands of the terrorist group ISIS. The positive changes and stabilisation that occurred in the Kurdish autonomous region since 2003 have unfortunately been stopped in their tracks. Dr Mlodoch spoke about her experience in relief work with victims of violence, especially women who lost loved ones or were themselves abducted or abused during the "Anfal" operation. in 1988-1989, under the code-word of Anfal, the Baathist regime massacred the Kurdish civilian population, deploying poisonous gases in attacks which are now recognised as genocide in a number of states. The film alludes to one such attack on Halabja. Dr Awat Asadi presented a more optimistic account of the history of Iraqi Kurds. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, governance of the autonomous region benefitted from renewed stability, using oil revenues to boost construction and development. For the first time, the government was in a position to satisfy basic human needs including clean water, electricity, health and education. Civil society also began to organise itself and movements were formed. His hope for positive improvements in the country are unwavering even in the face of current setbacks at the hands of the Islamic State. He suggested that IS would eventually exhaust and fail to replenish its ammunition. In contrast to the Baathist regime, the terrorist group is a foreign entity in the region and is losing its support from the local Sunni population. Dr Mlodoch added that IS could only win the support of Sunnis by exploiting their historical repression under Maliki's Shiite regime. To resolve the conflict, it is therefore essential to address the Sunni concerns and better enable their political participation. Currently, the refugee problem remains the Kurdish autonomous region's biggest challenge. In addition to half a million Syrian refugees, nearly one million internally displaced Iraqis are pushing the local population to the limits of its capacities. The situation in southern regions such as Khanaqin is a "humanitarian catastrophe", lamented Dr Mlodoch, despite stressing the incredible solidarity demonstrated by the local population. Once again, dramatic tales of refugees are being written in the Kurdish areas of northern Iraq - the themes of Turtles Can Fly could hardly be more relevant and contemporary. Still, we hope that chaos ends soon. For the first time, 14km made its new cloth bags available for sale! Look out for these at future events. Many thanks to Dr Karin Mlodoch and Dr Awat Asadi for their participation in the evening and providing such interesting background information and analysis on the history and current situation of the Kurds in northern Iraq. Background information: Producation company "Turtles Can Fly" Kurdish film distributor in Germany Event Presentation and Moderation: Carolin Bannorth On site coordination: Steffen Benzler Text: Susanne Kappe Translation: Alex Odlum Photos: Helena Burgrova Organisation and Planning: Andreas Fricke Programme: the 14km Volunteer Film Team The 14km Film and Discussion Series 2015 gets sponsorship by budgetary funds of the Federal State of Berlin – Office for Development Cooperation. The upcoming Film and Discussion Event takes place on August 26th and will be about Yemen. Further events are scheduled as followed: 26 August / 16 September / 07 October / 28 October / 18 November / 9 December The events are dedicatet to a single country or specific topic, in order to give an artistic-documentary impression . The ensuing audience discussion aims to include further informations by an affected person living in Berlin and by an scientific expert, always aiming to make links to North-South relationships.   We express thanks for the support:      

Last Wednesday we launched our annual 14km Film and Discussion Series at Filmrauschpalast in Moabit. As opening movie we screened “Azul” of Tunisian film maker Wassim Korbi who himself belongs to the indigenous group of Imazighen (sg. Amazigh, often called “Berbers”) in Tunisia. Following the screening, Abderrahmane Ammar, Berber-Expert, sociologist at Humboldt University Berlin, and freelance journalist, shared his insights into the Amazigh culture as well as into the political and social situation of the indigenous population in North Africa today. The film accompanies the director’s journey to his father’s ancestral village in search for his cultural roots. “Azul” is the greeting in Tamazight, the language of the Berbers, and language is one of the main topics that move the Berbers who are portrayed in the film. They proudly present themselves in front of their culture’s centuries-old ruins of historical buildings, or otherwise, in the deserted streets of run-down villages. They want to be recognized as indigenous population with their own history, culture, and language, and they grasp the opportunity after the opening-up of the political space after the 2011 Tunisian revolution to speak out about this wish for recognition. The history of the Berbers today living in Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, and Egypt, is marked by domination of foreign people in their home countries – first by Romans, then Arabs, and later by the French and Italian. “Adaptation and rebellion” – these were the only options open for the Berbers under foreign rule, explained sociologist and himself a Moroccan Berber, Abderrahmane Ammar, who was invited as speaker for the ensuing discussion. They, as “free men”, how the term “Imazighen” can be translated into English, mostly opted for non-adaptation and retreated into the mountain regions to practice their culture in their families and escape prosecution by foreign rulers. Tattoos were one means of rebellion. The signs and ornaments decorating the back of men’s hands tell about tribal belonging and religion – and they were forbidden under Muslim rule. Today, the youth chooses other means to express their identity and to combat discrimination. In the movie, young men use rap to gain attention both in their own community and in the society as a whole. There is still reason to rebel. In Tunisia, under the governments of Bourguiba and Ben Ali, a strict nationalist policy put Arabs and Arabic into focus, as the Berbers portrayed in the movie complain. Berber culture, by contrast, was used as a folkloristic decoration to attract tourists and earn money. Representatives of this Arab nationalistic stance are among today’s political decision makers, as well as agents of political Islam who sometimes decry Berbers as atheists or rant against the role of women in Berber culture. A young Tunisian woman in the film accordingly paints the picture of the “Mère Amazigh”, the Amazigh mother, who with her status as free woman who has her own history and tradition acts as a symbol for the political opposition. In fact, women have a strong standing in some Berber tribes, as Mr. Ammar clarified in the debate. The Tuareg people for example favor women in the law of succession and women are free to choose their husband without parental intrusion. The debate with the guests, among whom there were some Tunisians, centered on the socio-political situation today and perspectives for the different North African countries. Mr. Ammar stressed that especially in some countries population statistics tend to be manipulated to understate the share of Berbers amongst the populace and to force them into a minority role. In fact, Mr. Ammar said, Berbers form the majority in Morocco, whereas they represent about half the populace in Tunisia and Libya, and there are 10.000 Berbers living in Egypt. The legal situation is best in Morocco, where they obtained political recognition in 2011. Tamazight is now an official language in Morocco. In Algeria, on the other hand, legal recognition took place early, but economic discrimination lingers. Therefore, an independency movement has grown in the Kabyle. After suffering from discrimination under Gaddafi, Berbers in Libya now fight for recognition. In Egypt, this struggle is fought mainly in intellectual debate. In Tunisia, the young generation looks at its origin and cultural identity with freshly gained pride. Only with higher education and international experience is it that today’s youth is able to overcome their parents’ feeling of shame who did not oppose against the reigning opinion of the stupid “barbarians”. Although they have not yet found a structure for their political lobbying, one of the best examples for the recent rise in self confidence is exactly this movie by Wassim Korbi – “Azul”: Hello, here we are! Many thanks to Abderrahmane Ammar for the interesting insights and to all guests for joining the screening and the vivid debate! In charge of the event and presentation: Andreas Fricke Text: Susanne Kappe Photos: Silvia Liminiana Organisation: the volunteer 14km Film Team Please find further movies and films about Amazigh (Berber) in the 14km Film Database. The webpage Tlaxcala documents the Amazigh language. Thanks to our guests Hamid Behetschi for this tip. International Amazigh webpage. The 14km Film and Discussion Series 2015 gets sponsorship by budgetary funds of the Federal State of Berlin – Office for Development Cooperation. Subject of the upcomming event are CHILDREN in (civil) war and as refugees. 14km presents the feature and winner of numerous awards "Schildkröten können fliegen" ('Turtles Can Fly'') by Bahman Ghobadi (Iran/Iraq, 2005) in the original (Kurdish) with German subtitles. Date: Wednesday, 22nd of July, starting at 6.30 pm (18:30) at Filmrauschpalast Berlin Moabit. Further events are scheduled as followed: 26 August / 16 September / 07 October / 28 October / 18 November / 9 December We express thanks for the support: