Film-Maker Motaz H Matar, a Syrian and Palestinian, on His New Book

@claudiacragg speaks here with @motazhmatar about his new book, The Pigeon Whispeer. It is a magical book which, nevertheless, raises such important issues such as hope, hopelessness, belonging, war, migration, love, and loss Dabbour is a 25-year-old Syrian refuge and introvert and a pigeon herder. He fled with to Berlin with Yasser, his childhood friend and the two have succeeded in finding a new home using fake passports. Dabbour is trying to learn the ropes in this new country; while trying to learn German he's fallen for his German teacher, Zara. One day, Dabbour jumps on the railway tracks to save an injured pigeon and almost gets himself killed. For this, he gets arrested by the police – and realizes how much he misses home and the birds. Yasser asks Dabbour to use his talents as a "pigeon whisperer" and steal stray pigeons to transport drugs. Dabbour agrees, then realizes it was a big mistake. Dabbour is forced to choose between his loyalty to his friend and the promise of a new "family" and doing the right thing. Dabbour sinks further and further into the world of crime and drug smuggling. Website: http://www.motazhmatar.com Facebook: Facebook profile LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/motazmatar/ Blog: http://motazhmatar.com/blog Motaz Matar is an award-winning Palestinian Film and TV Director and Screenwriter. He holds an MFA degree in Cinematic Arts, and an MA in Serial storytelling from Cologne, Germany where he was the first Arab selected in the third cohort amongst 10 International students. For four years he taught university-level film production, and design in Dubai, Sharjah, and Jordan. With his experience as an independent film and TV director, Motaz achieved recognition in several regional TV Channels and Film Festivals in the Middle-East and throughout the world. In 2012 he was awarded the Golden Award at the PromaxBDA Arabia for a Television teaser he wrote and directed. In 2017 Motaz's first feature film "Slingshot" was officially selected in the Mediterranean film festival in Cannes and the Calcutta International film festival. Motaz is the founder of the First Arab Chat Fiction Mobile Application "Hakawaty" which aims to revolutionize the way stories are consumed in the Arab world. His creative vision, he believes, is try to use his passion for storytelling to share meaningful human experiences through art and education.