A teenage refugee from Syria is hoping to raise awareness of suffering in his homeland – through his work in porn.
Antonio Suleiman, 19, has become a successful porn star in Germany but says he has received death threats because of his line of work.
Suleiman, who recently starred in The Arabian King, says he arrived in Germany at the age of 15 following the outbreak of war in 2012.
He recently opened up about his career in an interview with German newspaper Bild in an attempt to shape perceptions of asylum seekers.
The porn star said he and his family have been subjected to an avalanche of abusive emails and Twitter messages, which include death threats after his profession became public. (Pornography is banned in Syria.)
The porn star said he and his family have been inundated with abusive emails and Twitter messages – including death threats – since his profession became public.
‘I didn’t do anything bad,” he said in response to his critics. “They should concern themselves with people who bomb and kill in France, not with me.”
“I enjoy the freedom in Germany, where I can do everything I couldn’t do at home. I want to raise awareness about the suffering of my home country.”
Suleiman describes himself as a ‘Syrian Adult Performer/Filmmaker XXX’ on his Twitter account which contains a number of X-rated images of him in action.
He has also opened up about the discrimination he faced when he tried to launch a career in the adult entertainment industry.
“Whenever German producers found out I was Syrian, I was met with negativity and refusal yet again,” he said. There’s a kind of discrimination against refugees within the German community. Many Syrians in Germany claim that there’s no racism, and that everything is good. I think they are lying to themselves.”
And he said he has come in for criticism from his own family, and from fellow refugees angry about the way he represents the community.
Suleiman has also encountered criticism from his own family.
“My own family have said I brought shame upon them, and other refugees said I was not helping their portrayal. I don’t agree with that though,” he said. For over five years now, Syrians have mainly been pictured under rubble, massacred, their dead bodies in the Mediterranean, or humiliated throughout their perilous journey to Europe.”
Back to the #gym pic.twitter.com/IVQ1Ak4G8K
— Antonio Suleiman (@syrian_pornstar) October 10, 2016
“Surely that’s what degrades and violates the ‘Syrian body’,” he added. “Yes, I used my body. I used it to show that this body can make love, can have sex, and does not only exist in order to die.”
Work hard, the life getting much better pic.twitter.com/cu9zoyfdn5
— Antonio Suleiman (@syrian_pornstar) September 12, 2016
You can watch an x-rated clip from his most recent work by clicking here.
h/t: DailyMail
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