Programme of the 9th international literature festival berlin 2009

Open Doors is Gianni Amelio’s film adaptation of Sciascia’s 1987 novel. The year is 1937, and the
Sicilian Tommaso Scalia is charged with triple murder. Scalia is as good as dead before sentence
has been passed. A farmer friend wants to help him, but the apparent salvation does not last long.
Director: Gianni Amelio. In cooperation with the Institute of Italian Culture.
Sun, 13.09. at 4:30 pm, Haus der Berliner Festspiele / Upper Foyer
Focus Arab World_Reflections
Prose of the Arab Peninsula III: Breaking taboos versus silence
with Youssef Al-Mohaimeed (Saudi Arabia), Ali Al-Muqri (Yemen) and Raja Alem (Saudi Arabia)
and Angela Tschorsnig (Germany)
PRESENTER: Günther Orth
On the Arabic peninsula, censorship is still dominant as a repressive instrument for use against
discomforting literature. Criticism of the regime, sex, and otherness are all unwanted themes, and
are frequently covered-up and banned. The writer here is faced with a decision: break taboos, or
stay silent? What is communicated in the novels, and what isn’t? Which taboos are dealt with and
which remain untouched?
Today a new tendency towards breaking social taboos in literature can be observed. What risks
and problems does this involve? Authors from the region speak about the possibilities and
boundaries, chances and hopes in their literary work.
Sun, 13.09. at 4:30 pm, Haus der Berliner Festspiele / Side stage
Kaleidoscope
Jonas Hassan Khemiri (Sweden/Tunisia)
PRESENTER: Knut Elstermann SPEAKER: Caroline Peters
Montecore, a Tiger on Two Legs tells the story of a certain Jonas. His father is the main character
of this book, who appears on the first page, elegantly dressed, strolling up and down the roof
terrace of his luxurious New York loft apartment. It is the author’s second novel. Jonas Hassen
Khemiri was born in Stockholm in 1978, the son of a Swedish mother and a Tunisian father. He has
been awarded the Per-Olof-Enquist Prize.
Sun, 13.09. at 6 pm, Haus der Berliner Festspiele / Side Stage
Kaleidoscope
Colm Tóibín (Ireland/USA)
PRESENTER: Wilfried F. Schoeller SPEAKER: Frank Arnold
The author will read from Mothers and Sons, a recently published volume of short stories. Tóibín
often depicts dwellings and the relationships of people who live therein through the description of
everyday details – dialogue, thoughts, observations, experiences – trimmed of unnecessary
explanations. The unspoken takes centre stage and motivates the plot: an underlying anguish, an
indescribable bewilderment, a laboriously held balance. Lothar Müller names him one of: “… the
greatest narrators of his generation.”
Sun, 13.09. at 6 pm, Haus der Berliner Festspiele / Upper Foyer
Focus Arab World_Reflections
On the laws of the Arab book market
PRESENTER: Suleman Taufiq
with Mansoura Ezz Eldin (Egypt), and Hassan Khader (Palestine)
For Western observers, Arab countries seem to have a deregulated book trade. What mechanisms
and structures for publication are there in the Arab world, what players and what decision-making
processes? What are the differences to and similarities with Germany? An event with simultaneous
interpretation. Headsets will be available in the downstairs foyer.
Sun, 13.09. at 7 pm, Collegium Hungaricum Berlin
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