Beyond Words was mostly shot in the Iranian Kurdistan. At first I went there
to look further into my family's 1000 years of documented History in Kurdistan.
An old childhood mystery about Kurdistan gradually took over and changed
my focus. That enigma shrouded in myths and folk tales, centered on the
elusive men of the Ghaderi order of Derwishes or Sufies in Kurdistan.

On my first visit to Kurdistan I was permitted not only to witness, but record
their ceremonies in one of the oldest towns in Kurdistan. I considered it an
honor and a privilege to have been given the chance. Over a period of 8
years I went back to Kurdistan to gather more footage of these seemingly
ordinary men.

Their initial chants prepare them for a journey.
Passion fuels and music guides them.
If necessary, they slash their way through what one thinks one already knows.
Their dance is a celebration of discovering the divinity within.
The divinity shared by all.

As different as these ceremonies appeared from anything I had experienced
before, I gradually came to realize that I had witnessed it all before.
Performed by different people with different religions in different languages.

Beyond Words is a film about these personal trips on a journey taken by many.

Sometimes the further you go away,   the deeper you go within.