Iradj Esmailpour Ghouchani is a PhD student at the Department of Anthropology at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. His professional training includes a M.A. in Anthropology at Tehran University and a B.S. in Electronic Engineering at Shiraz University.

Mr. Ghouchani’s research project concerns the Qadiri tradition of Sufism, which is widely practiced in the Kurdistan province of Iran. The focus of his film presentation will be on the “miracles” (khavariq), which are performed all year but are especially emphasized on the Prophet’s birthday. On this occasion, separate feasts and rituals are performed at the mosques and the Sufi convents (khanaqah). The musicians accompanying these rituals usually participate in both occasions, albeit with the difference that their performances in the mosques are more formal as compared to the music in the convent, which is accompanied by classical dervish dance (sama‘).