Minority Rights Group | 05/24/2023
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.
Naomi Cohen | journalist 