December 2023
Konya, Turkey

A film by Vincent Moon
Produced by Petites Planètes, Rana Gorgani, Souffle Collectif
Images by Vincent Moon, sounds by Julien Colardelle
Recorded at Hiçhane, Konya

« And we end up where it all started - in the middle of the night. Facing the revered mausoleum of Rumi, the tea place / alternative hub of Hiçhane is a Sufi hangout of a unique kind. It’s a busy time of the year - people are staying on couches here or there, they come from everywhere - Tunisia, Iran, France, Afghanistan… The days at Hiçhane are welcoming various workshops, the nights are open to anything, everything. I end up playing a live cinéma performance one night, at the last minute, and in that beautiful chaos something always emerges. But the space is threatened - by the heavy developments around, by the lack of poetry in urban landscapes, simply by the normalization of the world. It’s a resistance, a pirate stronghold. On the very last night, I pass by again, at 4am - it’s packed and whirling, it’s hot and dark. I film in a last breath of energy. At the end of it all, someone whispers to my ear - “if Rumi was dancing now, he would be dancing here” »

WATCH THE COMPLETE PLAYLIST • IMPRESSIONS FROM KONYA •  

10 films from the official and impressive Sema ceremony with 37 whirling dervishes to the long nights of dancing at Hiçhane or outside the mausoleum, from various collaborations of Sufi dancer Rana Gorgani with Ozgur Baba or Sadegh Azmand to entrancing circles all over. A cinema trip into the heart of modern and ancient sufism.