The Cultural Frontline

In November 1989, after the fall of the Berlin Wall clubs, bars, galleries, and studios began taking over empty buildings, factories, and vacant lots with a new culturally vibrant life. For many young Germans the burgeoning club and cultural scene was their first encounter with people from the other side of the wall. The curator Heiko Hoffmann was one of those young Germans; he guides us through the new photo exhibition No Photos on the Dance Floor which charts Berlin’s changing club culture from the fall of the wall to present day. How does society normalise objects that may restrict our freedom? That’s the question at the heart of the work of the Lebanese painter Tagreed Darghouth which places nuclear weapons, CCTV cameras and drones at the centre of her canvas. From the separation of Berlin to the division of Beirut, Tagreed discusses both the physical and metaphorical walls which divide us. This weekend, as Germany marks the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall and the beginning of the reunification of Germany. Our reporter William Noah Glucroft takes a cultural tour of the public art of East and West Berlin and speaks to the writers Tanja Horstmann, Katja Hensel and Jörg Uwe Albig about the cultural legacy of reunification and how German theatre and literature today reflect a changing nation. Presented by Tina Daheley. Image: Outside Snax Club, 2001 © Wolfgang Tillmans . Courtesy Galerie Buchholz Berlin/Köln courtesy of C/O gallery Berlin

From Kabul to California, we talk to the Afghan actress Bahara Golestani about her journey from fleeing a war zone to joining the cast of one of the most popular TV shows on the planet, the award winning American family drama and all round tear-jerker, This is Us. It’s been called the drama that changed Netflix forever. Screenwriter and comedian Varun Grover reveals how Sacred Games reflects the philosophy, the politics and the people of modern India. We go behind the scenes of one of West Africa’s most loved and most debated dramas, Maitresse d’un homme marié (Mistress of a Married Man). Writer and producer Kalista Sy tells us why she wanted to tell a story for all of Senegal’s women. Plus critic and box-set connoisseur Rhianna Dhillon talks to Tina about the TV series that are wowing audiences and causing controversy in Italy and Jordan. Presented by Tina Daheley Image: Bahara Golestani [Dr. Asmaan], This is Us Credit: THIS IS US © 2019-2020 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All rights reserved.

It’s a powerful story about love, family and living with the past. The Israeli novelist Zeruya Shalev talks to Tina about her latest book Pain, a novel shaped by her experience of being seriously injured in a Jerusalem suicide bombing. Following the decision of President Donald Trump to withdraw US forces from predominantly Kurdish-controlled north-eastern Syria, a new conflict in the war-torn country erupted. Reporter Sarhang Hars spoke to radio host and songwriter Sefqan Orkêş about living through that conflict and speaking up for Syria’s Kurdish people through music. Ten of Nigeria’s biggest stars come together on stage to tell stories of domestic violence, overturning the status quo, abuse, disrespect, bravery, sisterhood and joy. That’s the idea behind Hear Word and the show’s writer and director, Ifeoma Fafunwa speaks to BBC’s Mugabi Turya about the inspiration behind this powerful piece of performance art. Plus, has a song, a book or poem ever changed the way you see the world? The best-selling writer Alexander McCall Smith reveals how a borrowed book picked off a dusty library shelf inspired his love for the work of one of England’s greatest poets, WH Auden. Presented by Tina Daheley Image: Zeruya Shalev Credit: Ulf Andersen/Getty

Picture an Africa that is more than sunsets and safaris, or where war, poverty and famine aren’t the focus. Young street photographers are using their phones and digital cameras to document a continent that’s changing at breakneck speed. Adora Mba meets the talented young photographers who are subverting stereotype and capturing the everyday. In Harare, husband-and-wife team Chiedza and Zash Chinhara want to show that there’s more to Zimbabwe than the Mugabe aftermath. She’s a stylist and he’s a photographer, and together they set up glossy fashion shoots in largely ignored parts of the city. Moroccan street photographer Yoriyas shows us Casablanca in all its colour and contrast. He tells us how his North African heritage and his dance training have led to a unique style of composition: women in hijabs sit next to African B-Boys, while skyscrapers stand beside colonial buildings. The photographs of Eyerusalem Jiregna capture the people of Ethiopia as they go to school, to work, and to worship. She explains why it’s important to tell their stories as a female photographer. In Accra, Ghana, a new wave of photographers are showing what ordinary life is like for residents of one of Africa’s fastest growing cities. Nana Kofi Acquah, Francis Kokoroko and Prince Gyasi, who have thousands of followers on Instagram, meet Adora during the Chale Wote festival, to explain why it’s so important to offer a counterpoint to the mainstream media by documenting the energy, optimism and diversity of the modern Africa in which they live. Produced by Melissa FitzGerald and Fleur Macdonald, Blakeway Productions Image: Francis Kokoroko (Credit: Nana Kofi Acquah)

From government whistle blower to Hollywood movie. The director Gavin Hood and the former British intelligence worker Katharine Gun speak to The Cultural Frontline about how her decision to leak the details of an alleged US plan to bug UN delegates before the Iraq war changed her life and became an acclaimed film starring Keira Knightley. How far would you go for a good story? Taking untrained child actors on a rehearsal boot camp or filming in the jungle with the help of local goldminers? We speak to Alejandro Landes the director of Colombian kidnap drama Monos about the lengths he went to for his art. Plus the Saudi writer-director Shahad Ameen reveals how she was inspired by Arabic folklore to make her new film, the feminist mermaid fantasy, Scales. Presenter: Tina Daheley (Photo: Keira Knightly as Katharine Gun and Director Gavin Hood. Credit: Entertainment One/Columbia Pictures)