Iran Today: Chronical of a resistance

In light of current events, the actresses Nina Bruns and Amelie Willberg will read excerpts from the play CHRONICLE OF REVOLUTION (directed by Alireza Daryanavard), which was created as part of WORX 2023. This chronicle is based on original sources and personal insights from the Iranian authors Alireza Daryanavard and Mahsa Ghafari. It tells the story of the resistance in Iran. Iran's revolutionary history is a constant repetition of violence, oppression and exploitation as well as foreign domination by colonial powers, monarchs and religious rulers. On the other hand, there is the irrepressible striving of the Iranian people for self-determination, freedom and democracy.
In the first part of the evening, a 45-minute reading will focus on selected epochs and moments of the more than 100-year Iranian struggle for freedom - from the constitutional revolution and the Shah era, to the Islamic Revolution and today's protests against the mullah regime. Afterwards, Iranian artist Ghazal Abdollahi and exiled Iranian author Shila Behjat will talk to presenter Daniela Sepehri about the current situation in Iran and how the resistance has developed in recent years.

Ghazal Abdollahi is an Iranian artist, photographer and writer. She is the daughter of the Iranian photojournalist and women's rights activist Aliyeh Motallebzadeh, who was repeatedly detained in Ewin prison. Ghazal protested at ‘Frau Leben Freiheit’ in 2023 and was targeted by the state. Today she lives as an exiled Iranian in Berlin.
Shila Behjat is a journalist, publicist and presenter with German-Iranian roots. She studied law in Hamburg and Paris, was a correspondent in London, lived as a freelance journalist in India and reported on gender equality in the EU for the women's portal Aufeminin.com. As cultural editor at ARTE, she is responsible for documentaries and new formats. Her much-discussed debut, Raising Sons as a Feminist, was published in 2024.
Daniela Sepehri is a German-Iranian from Paderborn, completed her bachelor's degree in history, journalism and communication studies in 2020 and is now studying part-time for a master's degree in media and political communication. She has also been a poetry slammer since 2013 and is active on social networks on the topics of feminism, anti-racism, migration and Iran. As a journalist, she writes for various media, focussing on the topics of Iran and migration.