One week before the official cinema release on 7 November, the Biberach Film Festival will present Jurijs Saule‘s debut feature film “Martin Reads the Quran” (German title: “Martin liest den Koran“) in a festival preview. The drama, whose script won the German Film Award(Lola) for best unfilmed script in 2022, is celebrating another sneak preview here as part of a cinema tour.
The film is about a charismatic family man and a professor of Islamic studies who meet for an intense conversation about faith, doubt, good and evil. But what begins as an academic exchange soon develops into an oppressive psychological duel. The professor realises that his opponent is planning an attack – and the bomb is already armed. This tense chamber play raises explosive questions about radicalisation, violence and the possibilities of reconciliation. It profoundly illuminates the tension between hatred, mutual awareness and the struggle for answers in a world with and without God.
The Biberach Film Festival, which has been an integral part of the German film scene since 1979, offers a diverse programme and is known for its intimate atmosphere and the lively exchange between filmmakers and audiences. Discussion rounds and film talks invite intensive conversations about the presented works.
Summary
Martin is a 35-year-old family man with Iranian roots who has only been studying Islam for a year. He visits Professor Neuweiser, a professor of Islamic Studies, to tell him about the exciting terrorist attack he initiated this morning. Martin is confused when terrorists are criticised because he believes that they only follow what is written in the Quran. Or can Professor Wise Martin show a passage that clearly forbids killing people with bombs? If not, Martin’s bomb will consequently kill many people. The professor has no other weapon than the Koran itself, the word of God, to prove that violence is forbidden.
But did Martin really visit the professor just to get the advice of a ‘wise man’ or is there something else behind the unannounced visit? Martin himself is the big mystery throughout the film, which only unfolds in its full emotional depth at the end – only to finally detonate in the hearts of the audience.
