Who: Sinan Can (44)
Known from: documentaries Blood Brothers, Our Mission in Afghanistan, Blood Minerals: The Talk Route and Return Caliphate.
You may also know him from: his columns for the Vara guide and the radio show Sinans Atlas that he made for NPO Radio 1.
Documentary maker Sinan Can travels not only during the summer holidays, but all year round. Take the past year alone: he went for a new series, Fault lines, including to Brussels, Stockholm and Paris to experience life in vulnerable European neighbourhoods. In addition, he was everywhere and nowhere, such as along the rivers Euphrates and Tigris (for another series). He was previously in Afghanistan, where he accidentally found the last Jew still living there. Lived, unfortunately in the past tense, because he has now also left, away from the Taliban, now in Turkey but in a while with the help of a befriended New York rabbi to America.
And America, let that be exactly the country that Can has trouble with. Difficult to get in, to be more precise, because just look at passing American customs with a passport full of stamps from Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, among other places. Then you have to go to the US embassy to be questioned, which means you have to answer mostly stupid questions. Are you a danger to American democracy? You shouldn’t ask Can that: ‘the greatest dangers to democracy have long been in the country itself’, namely, and that is what he says during such an interrogation. Getting a visa is therefore difficult. But what a shame it would be if he couldn’t finish this documentary because they are just as afraid of diversity in the United States as they are in Afghanistan. So just wait and see, and first go on a holiday to celebrate. Off to a place where he doesn’t need a stamp in his passport: Sardinia.
Island: Sardinia
‘My favorite holiday destination par excellence is Sardinia. Small islands can make me cramped if you’ve seen it in three hours, but Sardinia is the perfect size. In addition, it also has the most beautiful sandy beaches I know – a bit like in the Caribbean – there are no highways, the food is good and not unimportant: nice people live there. And it is an area where relatively many people live over 100. I would like to grow old in Sardinia, in a summer house. Although, I don’t have to make it to 100.’
Hiking spot: Museum Park Orientalis
‘I like to walk in Museum Park Orientalis, in Heilig Landstichting, a village on the outskirts of Nijmegen. Previously it was called ‘the Biblical Open Air Museum’. The park now unites the three major monotheistic religions: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. You can walk through a Roman city street and visit an Arab fishing village. They have recreated it beautifully, you walk into a different world. And for me it is close by: Heilig Landstichting is officially still part of the Nijmegen area.’
Cuisine: Lebanese
‘My very, very, very favorite food is Lebanese. Everything is refined about Lebanese food, the ingredients, but especially the spices. In a country with such a rich history and so many groups of people, you can hardly help but find good food. I also like to cook it myself, for me it is more of a mix between Turkish and Lebanese cuisine. When I’m in a Lebanese restaurant with friends, I order so much that no one is hungry for three days. There are many different dishes, and I like that everything is tasted. You can wake me up at 3am for Lebanese food. No joke. I immediately get up and sit down at the table immediately.’
Book: The Forty Rules of Love
‘The most beautiful book I’ve ever read. They are two stories that run parallel to each other. The first is a story about Ella Rubinstein, who has to read a manuscript of the mystical Sufi Rumi for her work. Ella Rubinstein is a fictional character, but Rumi, or more fully Jalal ad-Din Rumi, is the famous poet and Sufi master of the 13th century. The book is beautiful, and everyone reads in it what they need at that moment. ‘Take what’s yours’, I always write in it when I give it away. You can reread it endlessly, because you always get something different out of it. This book grows with you.’
Documentary maker: Cherry Duyns
‘I make documentaries, and for me Cherry Duyns is the best documentary maker in the Netherlands. He is a master at telling a big story through something small. Take his movie The bear’s dream, in which he shows the collapse of the Soviet regime through the demise of an old Soviet circus. He interviews, among others, the famous clown Oleg Popov. My most fervent wish is to one day work with Cherry. I know he de Volkskrant reads, so who knows.’
