First Documentary on the Hizmet Movement


Date posted: June 12, 2014

By Tasmin Mahfuz

At the SVA theatre in New York City, the Peace Islands Institute sponsored an exclusive screening of the award-winning documentary, “Love is a Verb.”

Director Terry Spencer Hesser started the film three years ago when she was working on a travel series for PBS.

The film takes viewers on a journey to the roots of the Hizmet movement, inspired by the teachings of renown scholar Mr. Fethullah Gulen and with an influence in over 160 countries worldwide.

Terry, Hakan and their team of five travel to Belgium, Turkey, Bosnia, Iraq and Somalia, telling the stories of volunteers who sacrificed their own will to dedicate their time to serve in schools, hospitals, and humanitarian aid organizations.

Producer Hakan Berberoglu of Chicago’s Niagra Foundation tells us about the obstacles they faced while filming.

“Each culture and each set-up is very different because the Gulen movement is serving throughout the world. So that was one of the difficulties. So filming the Gulen movement in Belgium is very different than filming the Gulen movement in Somalia,” he said.

3000 people donated to the project, enabling a $350,000 fund to produce the film.

More than 250 special guests from the tri-state area joined the producers to celebrate the premiere of the documentary.

The documentary is the first of its kind and received the Best Documentary Award at Maryland International Film Festival. Actress Ashley Judd lent her voice and through Terry’s eyes, we meet a society we may have never heard about.

“The people are actually sort of subtle gentle revolutionaries,” Terry explained.

And now, many feel inspired to give back in the best way they can.

Source: Ebrunews.com , June 11, 2014

Tags: | | |


Related News

Analysis: Power of Turkey’s Fethullah Gulen

PM Erdogan accuses Hizmet supporters within the state of plotting a “coup” against the government. But the scale of the upheaval in the police, judiciary, Turkish state TV and other parts of the bureaucracy is already similar to what happens in a coup. The current Erdogan-Gulen stand-off is reminiscent of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s hostile relations with Said-i Nursi, a politically active Kurdish preacher in the formative years of the Turkish Republic.

Iranian gold stars in Turkish corruption scandal

It is difficult to predict how the bribery/corruption investigation into several Turkish ministers will end. Although there are those who frame the event as a power struggle between the Fethullah Gulen movement and the government, conspiracy theories expand its dimensions to include the United States and Iran. The government is looking for US and Israeli hands in the operation because of the use of Halkbank to circumvent the sanctions imposed on Iran.

Syrian refugees worry about housing as winter approaches

The Syrian refugees who fled the ongoing bloody war in their home country and have sought refuge in various cities of Turkey are facing difficulties finding accommodation since many landlords refuse to rent to refugees from Syria.

The term ‘Fetö’ is a misnomer, a bizarre creation of the paranoid Erdoğan propaganda machine

It disturbed me to see your newspaper uncritically using the term ‘Fetö’ – standing for the so-called ‘Fethullah Gülen Terrorist Organisation’, which is a rather bizarre creation of the paranoid Erdoğan propaganda machine. It is true that, with most dissenting voices silenced and most of the opposition press closed, Erdoğan’s propaganda now reigns supreme in Turkey.

Islam, terrorism and the media

We unfortunately live in an unfair world. Injustice is so ubiquitous that we can categorize it based on our neighborhood, our city, our region, our country and the world. Any kind of injustice, discrimination or otherization — such as social injustice, class injustice, inequity in income distribution and a lack of equal opportunities in education, business and social mobility — may rear its ugly head at any moment in our daily life. Not only the cases of social injustice we encounter in our daily life, but also the sentiments of rage and revolt stemming from national or international injustice may trigger reactions that are against the nature of people who normally have psychological integrity.

Turkey coup and Fethullah Gülen: Why blame a progressive Islamic modernist?

The coup in Turkey attempted by a group of middle-ranking soldiers of the country has gone down in West Asian history as an ill-designed expedition.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Gulen Denies Involvement – Erdogan Uses Coup for Repression

Students of Turkish school in Iraq learn four languages

Gülen says never considered establishing political party

Lebanese-Swedish singer Zain says proud to sing Gülen’s poem

Turkish Government Imprisons One More Mother With Her Baby Over Links To Gülen Movement

Gülen’s lawyer: Pro-government media ignores ruling of Supreme Court of Appeals

Turkey’s AKP planning to blame Hizmet movement for Deep State’s crimes

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News