Ana: A Journey of Resilience and Resistance in Istanbul’s Alevi Community
Ana is a film about Sevim Yalıncakoğlu, a 43-year-old accountant who leads a congregation of Alevi people in Okmeydanı, an Alevi ghetto in Istanbul. Despite the state’s efforts to assimilate Alevi people into Islam, Sevim resists and seeks to return Alevi practices to their roots.
The film portrays Sevim’s struggles as an Alevi woman in Turkey, her activism, hardships, and fight for Alevi rights, as well as her journey towards becoming a spiritual leader and preaching Alevism as a religion of equality.
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Find out more
- Read about Turkey and Alevis in Turkey in our World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples
- Our MARC programme (Minorities, Accountability, Rights, Collaboration) is all about supporting ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities in Turkey with the skills to conduct their own advocacy. Read more about it here.
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