NPR Berlin

Maher Alsahen looks impeccable: Dress-shirt, tie, and a suit jacket. He is ready for a job interview. "For me, this is a little bit tough, because I used to work in Syria," says Alsahen.

Right in the middle of the bustling heart of Kreuzberg, a group of political stunt activists have set up their office in a loft-like, industrial brick building. They call themselves Peng! Collective, and just as playful as their name sounds, are the actions they take. Jean Peters is one of the founders of the group with the mission to change the art of political protest and civil disobedience.

"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." These words from Shakespeare's Hamlet open "All Of A Sudden" by Asli Özge, a Turkish filmmaker based in Berlin. Özge's film premiered at Berlinale's Panorama section. "If you look generally in the world of politicians, the most antipathetic ones are the ones who have much power," the filmmaker comments.

"Stories don’t just tell themselves. Legacies don’t just get passed on. History isn’t preserved unless you take action, and do something with it." Director Aaron Brookner is talking about his uncle, Howard. After filmmaker Howard Brookner died of AIDS in 1989, his body of work was in danger of being lost. His nephew, Aaron Brookner, decided to preserve his uncle’s legacy and digitalize his first film, the cult classic, “Burroughs: The Movie.” Aaron then made a documentary about the process of saving his uncle’s film.

"I am Gina Abatemarco, and I am the director and producer of 'Kivalina.' It's a film about a culture that is going through extraordinary change." "It gets really eerie at night. All you can hear is the angry wind and the angry waves. They are really angry with us," utters one of Abatemarco's protagonists, an elderly woman from the small Alaskan island, Kivalina, located 80 miles from the Arctic Circle. She belongs to the Inupiaq Eskimo tribe that settled there.

“Putting yourself at risk makes you curious and makes you actually feel young,” says Danish director Thomas Vinterberg, who is backstage at the Berlinale Talents. We talk about how he tries to stay fresh as a filmmaker and the theme of family in his latest semi-autobiographical film, "The Commune."

The sound of the Mediterranean is captured by filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi. His documentary, "Fire At Sea," is set on the Sicilian Island of Lampedusa, which has become a symbol for migrant tragedies. Rosi's unusual portrayal of the island runs in this year's Berlinale competition.

"My first words were 'NO,'" reveals comedian Idil Baydar. She says it drove her dad crazy, but this rebellious attitude has made the Berlin-based artist a YouTube success. This really took off with her creation of Jilet Ayse - an alter ego.

2015 was a challenging year for the EU and German leadership. One challenge was the efforts of the U.S. and the EU to establish the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership: TTIP.

“I mean, people don’t come to my shop if they want something normal. If you want something normal, you go to a big department store.” Melinda Stokes is the owner and operator of Stokx Shop.

Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick has a big smile on his face when he talks about this year’s Berlinale posters. "They are really mad about the posters, that the bear is around Berlin on different stages and different locations.”

“I guess it's possible, still, to live off 1,000 Euro a month in Berlin – if you have cheap rent.” I'm talking about money with Berliner Michael Bohmeyer, a young entrepreneur who launched the campaign, "Mein Grundeinkommen" (My Basic Income), in the summer of 2014. "Three weeks later, the first 12,000 Euro were financed."

When I got to Berlin, I was excited to start my study abroad journey. I had expected that Berlin would run mostly on cash instead of credit. I expected to be a bit frazzled by the language difference, but after a couple of weeks of visiting my local grocery store, I noticed that dogs were always sitting outside, waiting for their owners.

Things are looking up for German Fashion with the creation of the new German Fashion Council.

Germany is not typically known for its international fashion scene like Milan, New York, or Paris - despite big names like Lagerfeld, Escada, and Hugo Boss – but Christiane Arp hopes this is changing.

Every Wednesday evening, the soul singer invites Berliners to join her choir at the famous Gedächtniskirche. It's not your typical choir. Everyone is welcome, regardless of singing experience. And, no one has to make any long term commitment.

"Jazz singing is about telling a story through the song and through the words, and so to me, the sadder the story, the better it is, because I like darkness of what life has to offer sometimes," says Bettina Pohle. Originally from Berlin, Bettina is a mother as well as a German and literature teacher by day, but a professional jazz singer by night. She was able to study and live in the United States for 12 years. During that time, she had become classically trained in music. She was always a high soprano for choir and oratory but later decided to focus on jazz singing.

It takes some power to operate the bellows of an old pump organ, but these kids manage just fine. They are from Afghanistan, Eritrea, and Syria. On this afternoon, they are visiting Berlin's Musical Instrument Museum.

“He [stood] behind me, many years when I was young, and now I’m older, more than 60 years,” says Klaus Rieken, a fan who has come to say goodbye to David Bowie at Hansa Studios' memorial service in Berlin.

The Berlin DJ known as T.Raumschmiere made his name with some of the dirtiest, deepest, “growliest,” hard-partying techno tracks of the Aughts, but late last year, that hard-partying, roof-blasting DJ, whose real name is Marco Haas, came out with a low-key, chilled out, ambient album.

We’ve been following the stories of a few Syrian refugees who have recently arrived to Berlin. Here’s Daniel Guillemette with the conclusion of the series.

We’ve been following the story of a Syrian we’ll call Rami, who is seeking asylum in Germany. Before he can make his case for permanent residency, he needs to get a temporary permit…a process that has led him to wait outside the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees twice without any luck. Recently, reporter Daniel Guillemette caught up with him on his third attempt.

This summer, two cousins we’re calling Rami and Majd, arrived from Syria as refugees. They recently received their first bit of government funding - about 320 euros each to cover their living expenses for two months. Reporter Daniel Guillemette caught up with them when they traveled to Neukölln for their first major purchase.

The story of entrepreneurship is often one of failure. But we hardly ever hear about that when it comes to the glittering world of successful companies. It's a stigma in our society, even though we could learn from it.

Walls lined with books and the smell of fresh bagels and coffee set the atmosphere at Shakespeare and Sons, an English-language bookstore on Warschauerstrasse.

A new book out by a Berlin author reveals the history behind how loops changed music. Though books have been written about the foundations of electronic music, this is the first to focus solely on loops. What’s surprising is that the history of this elemental structure has been so long overlooked.

Chef Chip Flanagan is cooking jambalaya, crawfish salad and bananas foster for a group of German food journalists in Berlin. They’re the same dishes he normally cooks at his restaurant in New Orleans, called Ralph’s on the Park.

The city is home to many tech startups, but Clue is a bit more personal than most. Clue has developed a smart phone application that tracks a woman’s menstrual cycle. It allows a woman to observe the patterns relative to different points in her own cycle.

Davia Nelson of the Kitchen Sisters is no stranger to Berlin.

Hllywd sits in his home studio in Wedding; the laptop, DJ tables, keyboard, and notebook all have their place in this unique teal room. Clothes hang from the walls of his studio - all created under the artistic design of "Hllywd" for his past performances. This space is characteristic of Hllywd’s life and his inescapable relationship with music.

Food and Art can change the world, believes Taina Guedes. She runs Entretempo Kitchen Gallery. This June, in an effort to reach beyond her gallery, Guedes launched Berlin Food Art Week. It takes place at 30 locations throughout the city.

Although the Berlin Wall had fallen in November of '89, the official demolition of the border fortifications started 7 months later at the corner of Bernauer Strasse and Ackerstrasse. Thousands of people attended this historic event 25 years ago. Rainer Just was among them taking photos.

The Dwarves, from San Francisco, formed in the mid- 80s and have built a career upon shock value. They were banned from CBGBs, the iconic New York punk club, dropped from Sub Pop records and are guilty of committing a laundry list of violent and lewd acts while onstage. But even after nearly three decades, the band doesn’t seem to be slowing down at all.

If you’ve ever been to a tourist pub in Berlin, you’ve probably seen someone drink a Berliner Weisse, a beer so insipid that it’s mixed with a fruit syrup in bright pink or toxic green just to make it drinkable. There’s no way this traditional Berlin beer could ever compete with the great brews of Bavaria, Bohemia or Belgium. Until now, that is.

Known as white gold, admired by poets Goethe and Proust - white asparagus, or spargel is a highly anticipated culinary treat in Germany, and Berliners have a direct source.

American musician Wayne Grajeda first came to Berlin in the early 70s and hasn't looked back since.

Veganism is not a new lifestyle, but due to the recent popularity of animal-free products, Berlin is seen by some as a vegan paradise.

Berlin isn’t always all about techno. This weekend is actually the opposite, with a wide range of varied sounds hitting the streets as part of Karneval der Kulturen, including oriental psychadelic surf band Cherry Bandora.

It's an unusual sight. A very petit, elderly woman shares the stage with two rappers. They perform a Jewish partisan song at the Peace Festival in Berlin. They are Esther Bejarano and Microphone Mafia.

The Eurovision Song Contest is one of the most widely watched non-sporting events in the world...in fact, some call it the European World Cup for music, and Berlin is the home to many of its fans.

Alex Tsiridis and Hüseyin Evigren, the duo behind Cassegrain, stopped by NPR Berlin to talk about their creation process and why they chose Berlin as the home for their shared studio.

Amelia and Amanda are sisters. Amelia Umuhire is a filmmaker and the director of Polyglot. Amanda Mukasonga a.k.a. Babiche Papaya is a rapper, poet, and actress. They are fluent in German, English, French, and Kinyarwanda - Rwanda's principal language. They are polyglots.

The gallery of the Goethe-Institut in Washington DC is having artwork installed. A shattered pane of glass mottled with splashes of paint pigment and dried flowers leans against one wall, and fine Japanese paper adorned with pressed plants and intricate pen-work hangs in the air. In the corner is a large, rectangular steel basin. This is the work of Paula Doepfner.

Many of Berlin’s trendiest people can be found sitting in Mein Haus Am See, a coffee shop slash bar slash venue in Prenzlauer Berg, the home of Berlin Fashion Week. Lena Quist is bound to stand out in any crowd, even in Mein Haus Am See. She has bold blue hair and wears bright red lipstick. She walks with a signature flare – thanks to her black, sky high platforms. Even at the age of fourteen, Lena Quist knew she stood out.

Once a year, game enthusiasts from all over the world flock to Berlin for International Games week. The indie game scene congregates at A Maze, Berlin's independent video game festival. They get together for workshops, gaming, and talks. A Maze is a bit more oddball than most game festivals, so it's no surprise that one particular talk tackles why there are so many hot dogs in video games. A Maze presents a broad spectrum of games from across Europe, such as two people using a single smart phone to dance, or Virtual Reality controlled with the players' breath.

Record Store Day, an annual music collectors’ treasure hunt, challenges adventurous fans in Berlin with a specter of possible long lines and high prices. With all the specialized attention that Record Store Day receives, there is a debate about whether it hinders or cultivates a love for vinyl and the independent record store.

The smell of saw dust fills the air. Pine wood boards lean against one wall of the workshop, stacks of chairs line another. It's the work space of Cucula in a former factory along the river Spree. Cucula Refugees Crafts and Design company is a pilot project based in Berlin. The idea: to empower five refugees from West Africa through furniture making. Ali Maiga Nouhou is one of them: "Cucula is to speak together, to work together, to eat together."

On Oranienstrasse, in the heart of Kreuzberg, photographer Maren Demant waits, ready, camera in hand to capture the faces of pedestrians who pass by. When an individual catches the young photographer’s attention, she asks to take their photo. This is part of one of her ongoing projects: Oranienstrasse. It’s a body of work that depicts the cultural diversity of Berlin on one of the city’s more well known streets.

Authors from Israel and Germany write about each others countries in a new book. Wir Vergessen Nicht, Wir Gehen Tanzen , or "We don't forget, we go dancing," is an anthology by writers mainly in their 30s and 40s. The idea for this book came to author Norbert Kron in 2008, when German and Israeli writers played a soccer match in Tel Aviv.