Stephan Smith-Said is an Iraqi American songwriter whose father’s family lives under the daily threat of bombing in Baghdad and Mosul. In this interview he speaks about the importance of music and of fighting music censorship – inspired by his attendance at the 3rd Freemuse World Conference in Istanbul in November 2006.
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Stephan Smith-Said describes himself as a “travelling troubadour”. He is a multi-talented musician – singer, violinist and composer – and a dedicated political activist. The New York publication The Village Voice called him the "heir apparent to Woody Guthrie." His newest single, ‘Another World Is Possible’, has been released for free at his website: www.stephansmith.com The video clip also contains short statements by Kaiser Abdurusul, a PhD student from East Turkistan, about the life and death of musician Kurash Sultan, and by Sanar Yurdatapan, a composer and human rights activist from Turkey who took part in organising the conference. More information about Kurash Sultan
The video interview – as well as the additional clips from the conference – was recorded by Mik Aidt assisted by Gaëlle Gauthier-Brown on 27 November 2006. Signature music: Jason Carter recorded live at the conference.&
Baglama-player and singer Fuat Talay speaks about how the Turkish authorities kept him in a police station's cellar for 23 days, and later on convicted him to 12 years in prison
Three members of Diyarbakir Yenisehir Council Childrens' Choir were acquitted, but the Turkish court issued an arrest order for the director of the choir, Duygu Bayar
In 2000, a song by Turkish rapper Sultana was banned, and she disappeared from the lime light. After an eight-year hiatus she is now back on the music stage
Excerpt of political scientist Beate Slydal's presentation at the seminar 'Music - a human right', held in Oslo, Norway, on Music Freedom Day, 3 March 2008
On 29 November 2007 the Danish Refugee Council awarded Mizgin, a Kurdish refugee musician based in Denmark, with an 'Artist Award' and 5,000 US dollars
