The story of the mystical world of a young Mevlevi dervish who witnesses the emotional relationship between two young members of the palace, amid the efforts of a handful of people seeking peace in Istanbul in the days leading up to the 1798 Ottoman-French war. The dervish, who is responsible for keeping the Mevlevi records, is also in the service of Nuri Dede Efendi, a former Ottoman pasha. Dede Efendi and some of his old friends, who are French diplomats, are trying to prevent the impending war. This unofficial effort is being carried out at Sahilsaray, which belongs to Beyhan Sultan, the sister of Sultan Selim III. A bond develops between Halil, the court physician accompanying Dede Efendi during the diplomatic negotiations, and Gülnihal Kalfa, Beyhan Sultan's assistant. The young dervish who accompanies Dede Efendi to Sahilsaray brings a notebook filled with pages that blend the story he has witnessed in its entirety with passages reflecting the teachings of Mevlana...
Cinematography
The Mevlevi ritual sequences are genuinely transcendent.
Production
Sahilsaray palace interiors rival period European cinema.
Director
Jacques Deschamps
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The Mevlevi order's sema ceremony was banned in Turkey in 1925; this 2008 French-Turkish co-production helped revive international cinematic interest in Sufi traditions.
Director Jacques Deschamps spent years researching Selim III's reformist circle; the real Nuri Dede Efendi was executed in 1799 for his pro-French sympathies.
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