Programme of the 9th international literature festival berlin 2009

Sun, 20.09. at 4 pm, Haus der Berliner Festspiele / Upper Foyer
Reflections
Colum McCann (Ireland/USA) and Binyavanga Wainaina (Kenya/USA)
in a discussion about: Connectedness: values in a changing society
PRESENTER: Marius Meller
The winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing Binyavanga Wainaina and the journalist and writer
Colum McCann are both striking in their ability to seismographically detect changes in society and
to articulate those changes in literature. No one could better capture in words the direction our
society is going in in the wake of the economic and financial crisis or the ways in which the recently
ignited discourse on values may have opened up possibilities for a more just world.
Sun, 20.09. at 8 pm, Haus der Berliner Festspiele / Main Stage
Specials
The Forgotten Liberators (À nos morts),
Hiphop Musical in Memory of the French Colonial Soldiers
German Premiere: with Yan Gilg, Farba MBaye, Maeva Heitz, Sovannak Nam, Ibrahima
MBodji, Christophe Roser, Yassine Allouache, Mickaël Stoll
Strongly influenced by the hip-hop culture of Strasburg’s suburbs, this performance combines
poetic texts with an urban sound and contemporary choreography – all of which takes place in front
of a stage set including historical photographs and film excerpts. The play remembers the millions
of soldiers from the French colonies who fought for France on the front lines in 1914-18, and who
helped to free the world from Fascism during the Second World War. Largely forgotten today, the
project “Mémoires Vives” pays them respect by bringing an important but neglected chapter of
history to the stage in contemporary form. Presented by AfricAvenir International e.V.
www.africavenir.org
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