Ana: A Journey of Resilience and Resistance in Istanbul’s Alevi Community

by D. Barış Narlı | 2023 | 5 min

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 Türkiye, 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.