Teuflische Karikaturen is the German version of the documentary "Bloody Cartoons"

How did 12 drawings of the Prophet Muhammad in 2005 throw Denmark into a conflict with many muslim countries. In the documentary film “Bloody Cartoons” Karsten Kjær embarks on a personal journey across Europe and the Middle East to uncover the key figures behind the Muhammad crisis. Along the way, he encounters a Danish prime minister unwavering in his commitment to freedom of expression, an imam from Aarhus who ignites protests in his native Lebanon, an Islamic political leader advocating for a UN ban on blasphemy, and, finally, in Iran, a state sponsored professional demonstrator targeting the Danish embassy. In the film, they, along with others, lay eyes on the drawings they protested against for the first time. “Bloody Cartoons” is one of ten international documentaries in the "Why Democracy?" series, offering a global examination of democracy's vitality.

What do Danish cartoons tell us about contemporary democracy?

Freedom of expression has always been a core principle of democracy. Imagining one without the other is unthinkable to most people. But what happens when one democratic right infringes on the rights of others? Since the furore of the Danish cartoons it is clear that not everyone agrees with the idea of limitless freedom. The director films in Lebanon, Iran, Syria, Qatar, France, Turkey and Denmark, talking to some of the people that played key roles during the cartoon crisis. . He asks whether respect for Islam combined with the heated response to the cartoons is now leading us towards self-censorship. How tolerant should we be of the intolerant? And what limits should there be, if any, to freedom of speech in a democracy?

Bloody Cartoons cast - in order of appearences:

Karsten Kjær - film director, Denmark
Kurt Westergaard - cartoonist, Jyllands-Posten
Flemming Rose - editor, Jyllands-Posten
Abdallah Khalid Ismail - imam, Grimhøj Mosque Aarhus
Raed Hlayhel - imam, Aarhus and Tripoli
Richard Treissati, entrepreneur Beirut, Lebanon
Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani - Grand Mufti of Lebanon
Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu - Professor, president of OIC (Organisation of Islamic Conference)
Henryk Broder - author, Berlin Germany
Philippe Val - Editor in Chief, Charlie Hebdo, french satirical magazine
Lhaj Thami Breze, President, Union of French Islamic Organisations
Maulana Yousef Qureshi, mullah, Peshawar
Sheikh Yusef al-Qaradawi - televangelist, al Jazeera televison
Claus Juul Nielsen - danish ambassador, Teheran, Iran
Ali Bakhshi - Protest organizer - Islamic Republic of Iran
Masoud Shojai Tabatabai - Iranian Museum of cartoons
Anders Fogh Rasmussen - Prime Minister of Denmark

Produced by: The Why Foundation
Director: Karsten Kjaer, Denmark, 2007