Ahmad Adelian comes from Kunduz (Afganistan). He’s 20 years old. He came to Slovenia in 2016 and participated in a film course that was part of the project called Close to you and as result made a short film that is a poetical presentation of the song from the Persian poet Rumi, a theologian and Sufi mystic.

The song was written in the 13th century and it is about the difference, peculiarities and exclusion of the individual from society. Rumi searches for a sense of rules that apply to society and highlights freedom regardless of skin colour, religion or social status. The film Only Breathing is a collage of quotes of various parts of the song, emphasizing the timelessness of Rumi’s poetry and subject’s universality. His poetry is transformed through the filter of the present-day time and through personal experiences.

The song is placed in a modern society amongst all the current difficulties.

Ahmad’s comment:

“I had many problems in my country. I came to Slovenia at the beginning of 2016, completely hopeless, but fortunately I found my life here safe and calm. I visited many kind people, spent a lot of time with them and started to understand the meaning of having a safe country.”