The film script

Al-Qa'batu-l-Musharrafah "The Venerable Ka'ba" is located in Mecca in the Masjid al-Haram Mosque. There is a Black Stone, Hajar al-Aswad, embedded in the eastern corner of the mosque at a height of one and a half metres from the base.

In the second Surah "AL-BAKARA" of the holy Quran, it says:

Ayat 125

"Remember also the story of the building of the Untouchable Mosque in Makkah by Ibrahim and his son Ismail. This story is an exhortation to those who have pure hearts. Remember, then, that We made this Sacred House a safe and secure shelter for people. And We commanded people to make the place where Ibrahim stood when building the Kaaba a place for prayer. And We commanded Ibrahim and his son Ismail to cleanse the House of defilement and make it a Sacred Place for those who circumambulate, prostrate in prayer before Allah and abide therein to worship Allah"

Wherever a Muslim is, at whatever point in the world, he turns his prayer in the direction of the Kaaba. This direction is called Qibla, it is calculated by astronomical calculations, and nowadays it is possible to find Qibla in an internet application such as Qibla Finder. In the mosque Qibla is marked by a niche in the wall called Mihrab.

Whilst filming, we heard the sad news, the architect of the Roman Mosque Paolo Portoghesi died at the age of 92. We were in Kiev on 30 May 2023, and this news reached us later.  We never had time to meet him and ask him questions that will now remain forever unanswered. The answer to the riddle left by this great architect of our time can now only be surmised.

Looking at the plans of the mosque and comparing them with the plans of the churches of Francesco Borromini, the Baroque architect who influenced Portoghesi's understanding of the inner world of architecture, we noticed that the axis of the qibla of the Roman Mosque coincides with the axis of the altar of San Carlino, his favourite church. Paolo Portoghesi left us a clue in revealing his secret intent, a clue that lay on the surface. A direct quotation of Michelangelo's square on the Capitoline hill, which the architect transferred to the mosque and which was the key to unravelling this secret message.

But the Qibla was not always directed towards Mecca. At the time of Prophet Muhammad's migration to Medina, the direction of the Qiblah was Jerusalem, but in 624, Ayats were sent down to him stating that the Qiblah was in the Kaaba.

Ayat 142

"The foolish of the Jews and the unwise of the polytheists and hypocrites will say, condemning the believers: "What has turned them away from the Qiblah towards which they used to worship?" Say to them (O Muhammad!), "In the power of Allah is the east and the west and all sides. He chooses which way to turn to the Qiblah. He leads whom He wills on the righteous path. According to the Scripture sent down to Muhammad, the real Qibla is in the Kaaba."

In Medina in the Masjid al-Qiblatain Mosque, until 1987 there were two Mihrab - one, the old one facing Jerusalem and the other pointing to the Kaaba, but after the reconstruction, the old Mihrab was dismantled.

Ayat 144

"We see how you (O Muhammad!) turned your face towards the sky, hoping that Allah would send you Revelation, urging you to turn towards the Ka'bah instead of Jerusalem: for you love the Ka'bah because it is the Qiblah of Ibrahim, the first of the messengers and forefather of the Jews and Arabs, and in it is the House of Ibrahim. Verily, it is a common Qiblah, different from the Qiblah of the Jews. And now We turn thee to the Qiblah with which thou shalt be pleased. Turn your face towards the Forbidden Mosque! And, believers, wherever you are, turn your faces in its direction! The people to whom the Scripture has been given condemn you for turning towards the Ka'bah, though they know from their Scriptures that it is an instruction from your Lord, that you are the people of the Ka'bah, and that Allah has predestined the Qiblah for every religion, but they want to sow doubt in your hearts towards your religion and turn you away from it. Allah does not remain negligent of what you do!"

The direction of prayer for believers is not only of practical importance, but it certainly has a mystical meaning. The direction for prayer exists in all religions, so Jews should pray in the direction of Jerusalem, Christians originally built temples with the entrance facing east and the altar facing west, as is done in the first Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built in 335. St Peter's Cathedral in Rome also faces west with its altar. This rule applies to almost all the temples of the Western Church. In turn, for Eastern Christians, the altar of the temple faces east. But if we turn to the orientation of the four main (papal) churches of Rome, we see an oddity.

Santa Maria Maggiore 432 stands on an axis coinciding with the axis of the qibla, towards Mecca, and is not orientated to the sides of the world, though the altar is located in the opposite direction from the Kaaba.

San Paolo-fuori le Mura - the temple where the remains of St Paul are buried, another of the four papal cathedrals, the axis of which also practically coincides with the axis of the Qibla, but here the main altar of the temple looks towards Mecca.

Finally, the fourth papal church, the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano, founded in 313, is conventionally oriented towards the west, according to the canon. This church is important for us because in 1646 Francesco Borromini, Paolo Portoghesi's favourite architect, began the reconstruction, which was completed in 1650.

So what is the story of Borromini's churches? The last and most remarkable work of the great Baroque architect is San Carlo alle Quatro Fontane, San Carlino (beginning of construction 1638) year has its orientation, its main axis pointing directly at the Kaaba, as you can easily see by going to the Qibla search site on Google. The altar of the church faces Mecca. Knowing Borromini's attitude to axes, it's hard to imagine this being an accident. Although, of course, we must take into account that the church was built in the already established development of Rome and the orientation of the altar was determined by the existing plan of the plot of land, but even in this case this accident leaves even more space for reflection.

On the same Via del Quirinale, just 300 metres from Borromini's church, is the church built by his main rival at the papal court of Innocent X, Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini, who designed this church for the meetings of the Jesuits, members of the Society of Jesus. The construction began in 1658. We look at the direction of the main axis of the church and as you have already guessed the altar is facing strictly towards the Kaaba. There is no west in sight.

The other three Borromini churches, Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza - the altar faces east, Sant'Agnese in Agone - the altar faces west and Sant'Andrea della Fratte - the altar faces east again. As in the case of the four papal cathedrals, we see that the orientation of the churches does not follow a strict canon and this confirms the possibility of manoeuvre for the architect.

Paolo Portoghesi, who always said that San Carlino Borromini was for him the greatest example of architecture and whose principles he used in the design of the Great Roman Mosque, played a mysterious story with references and quotations in his project.

The mosque as it is supposed to be in Islam has the direction of Qibla to Kaaba, everything is in order. But the main axis of the construction, repeatedly emphasised by the movement of the stairs, flowing water through a special chute cutting the steps, slightly curved wings of the galleries directing and holding this axis, is directed towards the centre of Rome. The architect's will to establish a link between the Christian capital and the Muslim centre is evident in this movement.

The first and obvious citation that those entering the mosque grounds encounter is the square with the fountain from which the main axis starts its movement, the famous Piazza del Campidoglio (Capitoline Square) where the Palace of the Senators stands. The project by Michelangelo in 1538, and then precisely one hundred years later in 1638 Borromini will start work on his best church of San Carlino. We have already said that the orientation of the church's altar towards Mecca is questionable. But when we see that the main axis of Michelangelo's staircase on the Capitoline hill is strictly directed towards the Kaaba, we begin to realise that Portoghesi's design is not accidental at all.

So Michelangelo's axis completely coincides with the axis of the Qibla of the Roman Mosque. Now if to draw the axis of St. Peter's Cathedral, through Via della Conciliazione (Italian: Via della Conciliazione - Street of Reconciliation) aspiring to the centre of the city past the Castle of Angels, then just on the bank of the Tiber in the point formed by the cylindrical tower of the castle there is a meeting of the main axis of the Great Roman Mosque, the axis of the Vatican and the axis directed to Mecca, formed by the Capitol Square - the centre of Rome.

Reconciliation - this super-objective was encoded in the message of Portoghesi. And we can only guess why it was hidden so far behind the complex constructions of the architectural project. Perhaps we are not yet ready to perceive this truth and the architect left this message to future generations.

After the publication of Diana Darke's book Stealing from the Saracens, in which she asks whether the well-known monuments of European cities, which have become an expression of European tradition, have their origins in Christian culture. And whether they have not simply been stolen.

Diana Darke's outrage was sparked by the widespread reaction to the fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in 2019. "I'm afraid the reaction to that fire just made me angry," said Diana at the launch of her book, organised by the Council for Arab-British Understanding.

"When everyone was saying it was a great symbol of French identity, I thought, 'Wait a minute, don't people realise that this building is nowhere near as European as they think it is?'"

The question raised by the English architectural historian is not as innocuous as it may seem at first glance. And it is not just a matter of mediaeval architects borrowing Islamic architectural ideas and insisting on their cultural superiority.

One could turn a blind eye to this, remembering the aggressive nature of Christianity and the Crusades, from which the Crusaders brought Arab finds to Europe. Diane Darke points to the concept of a twin tower with a rose window as one such piece of evidence. 

The fact is that the idea of the cultural superiority of Christianity was the basis of Islamophobia, from which modern Europe cannot free itself to this day.

And the more valuable is the personality of the artist who saw, often against the general consensus, the unity in the origins of Muslim and Christian culture. He realised the importance of penetrating the discoveries of Islamic architects into the emerging architecture of the European Middle Ages.

Sir Christopher Wren, who designed St Paul's Cathedral in London, built on the site of a Gothic cathedral that burned down in the Great Fire of London in 1666, observed that the Gothic style that flourished in Europe during the Middle Ages might more appropriately be called the "Saracenic style".

The first stop in our account of the Islamic architecture of Italy was the Great Mosque of Rome, and of course this choice was no accident. The architect of this mosque was Paolo Portoghesi, a Renaissance man and our contemporary.

The symbolism of the figure of Paolo Portoghesi, the architect of the Great Mosque in Rome, is revealed to us as soon as we turn to the history of his work.

 Already at the age of 16, Paolo published a homemade book, in five copies, dedicated to Francesco Borromini.

As Paolo Portoghesi tells us, his daily route to school took him past a church whose unusual spiral dome caught his eye, and he soon learnt that the church was built by Francesco Borromini, an architect who changed the way architecture developed.

Today Paolo Portoghesi, who has devoted his life to researching Baroque architecture and has written books about Borromini in which he revealed the secrets of his ingenious discoveries, is an undisputed authority in the architectural world. 

So, in 1975, Paolo Portoghesi, Vittorio Gigliotti and Sami Moussavi began designing the Roman mosque.

The work spanned 20 years and in 1995 the Great Roman Mosque was inaugurated. The significance of this event can hardly be overestimated. Especially since there was considerable opposition in Italian public opinion, which prevented the construction. But after the coming to the throne of Pope John Paul II in 1978, who put an end to these disputes and supported the construction, the obstacles were removed. By the way, the pope was also present at the opening.

The land for the construction of the mosque was allocated by the municipality of Rome back in 1974, the financing was taken by the King of Saudi Arabia Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and the governments of other Muslim countries.

Islam's openness to the world was decisive in the choice of the architect. An architect who was able to address the main challenge of the project - how to combine Islamic spirituality and tradition - with the architectural fabric of Rome.

The foundation of Portoghesi's conception was Light.

In the Quran, in Surah 24 "AN-NUR", the "Surah of Light", it is said:

Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. His light in the soul of the believer is like a niche in which there is a lamp. The lamp is encased in glass, and the glass is like a pearl star. It is lit from the blessed olive tree, which does not extend eastward or westward. Its oil is ready to glow even without contact with fire. One light on top of another! Allah guides His light whomever He wills. Allah brings people parables, and Allah is aware of everything.

The penetrating and shaping light creates a fantastic space in the main prayer hall, which seats two and a half thousand worshippers. The principle of the plan is a circle inscribed in a square, which is traditional for the layout of a mosque. The dome of the hall, rising to 20 metres, is supported by 32 columns.

But the columns, made of concrete using injection moulding technology, are a far cry from the traditional pillars with a base, shaft and capitals.

In cross-section, these upward-pointing supports are four rectangles, converging to the notional capitals and flying upwards in a tense curve, supporting the thin ribs of the arched structures on which the stepped vault of the dome rests.

It is easy to see the outlines of Istanbul's mosques in the dome, but at the same time the entire structure, perforated with rectangular holes, lets in indirect light filtering through the intertwining concrete branches. It is this unreal, divine light that becomes the main factor in influencing our consciousness, immersing us in an atmosphere consonant with concentrated prayer.

And here we return to the figure of the architect, Paolo Portoghesi. Having learnt about Baroque architecture and understood the hidden mechanisms of how space affects our consciousness, he applied his experience to the construction of the mosque, filling its main prayer hall with the light of the Almighty.

Thus, while remaining in full conformity with the canons of Islamic architecture, he also fulfilled the task dictated by the place. The mosque did not become a foreign object on the territory of the capital of the Christian world, it became part of the general fabric of the architecture of the "eternal city".

Paolo Portoghesi is an architect and theorist of postmodernism. And that branch of this movement, which includes such famous masters as Robert Venturi and Robert Stern in America or Aldo Rossi, Ricardo Bofill and James Stirling in Europe. Unlike Charles Moore or Michael Graves, who represent the Historicism side, they worked in a more sophisticated direction, which can be called spatial relationship architecture.

The architecture of postmodernism emerged in the 1960s, and one of the most precise formulators of the movement's principles in his book "Complexities and Contradictions in Architecture", published back in 1966, was the American Robert Venturi.

If we get away from the standard formulations and definitions of postmodernism, it can be briefly described as a multi-level approach to the consumer or customer. The meaning of an object is revealed depending on the capabilities and understanding of the person who comes into contact with it. Starting from simple signs, semantics, which easily finds its way to the imaginative consciousness of the beholder. And everything can be used as signs. From historical monuments of antiquity to objects of pop culture. Hence the notions of Historicism or more correctly to say "downgrading", simplification of classical forms and references or imitation of well-known objects that have become symbols of time.

At the next stage of perception comes the figurative, sensory impact. This is created with the help of traditional tools of architectural language. Such as material, texture, sculpture and ornament. It should be noted that the widespread opinion that postmodernism became the antithesis of modernist architecture is extremely superficial. The fact that these traditional modes of expression are not as articulate in Constructivism, which passed into Modernism, does not mean that they are absent. Take Mies van der Rohe, for example. His brilliant sense of material and detail can argue with this understanding of art historians. For their part, postmodernist architects have never abandoned continuity. Certainly not in the way space is constructed.

And here we move to the next, most complex, level of perception of architecture. Probably no one will argue with the fact that architectural space has a strong influence on the human condition. Another thing is that few people try to understand what it depends on. The two phases of perception, already mentioned above, undoubtedly shape our perception and create our mood. We feel ourselves quite differently in different houses or on different streets and squares. But, as a rule, people do not realise that, first of all, this state of mind is created by the space designed by the architect. Just as a natural landscape evokes in us completely different feelings and emotions, only in this case the architect is the Almighty.

Probably, it is necessary to explain what is behind the term space, because this word is often used in language and denotes as a rule some volume in which something, for example, a person, can be placed. In architecture, space refers to a system of thought-out connections that establish interaction between all its participants, including the person himself, who is in the field of influence of these connections.

A natural landscape is always perfect, until man intervenes in it. This is the space in which all possible factors affecting our perception exist. But since the natural landscape was created by the Almighty, we are not allowed to unravel the secret of its creation. The landscapes of Tuscany are a good example. Many viewers will be surprised that the postcard views of Montepulciano are artificially created. Over the years, this landscape has been subjected to the thoughtful influence of architects who laid it out using a complex system of tree planting alternating with fields and hills. It is a classic example of quality architectural work. But at times you can sense a certain subdued flavour, especially if you move to neighbouring Umbria, where the architectural expansion has not been so obvious.

In the Tuscan landscape, we can trace, in a purified way, what has been central to the formation of this space. The architects have hinted toward the traces of their intentions, they have drawn axes marked by planted cypresses, which create different centres of influence, thus involving the person moving in this system. Accentuating his attention to certain objects, houses, vineyards, the sky at all times. The cypresses lining the alleys leading to the estates, sometimes delineate the skyline with a dotted line along the crest of the hills. These axes anchor the beholder's vision, shaping his or her perception in the dynamics of movement or at a standstill.

In essence these links, the axes of construction, exist in any architectural space, and they are not always revealed or drawn on the floor, but they are always present. Even in a state of artificial chaos, the axes continue to exist, and, if you wish, you can see how this chaos was created.

The axes in space connect volumes (objects) or voids and line up the direction of the impact of one body on another or on the void. From these interactions there is a tension that is subconsciously felt by the person in contact with this space. Sometimes this effect on the viewer is called the metaphysics of space, meaning a feeling that is incomprehensible to a person, but which is nevertheless clearly present, regardless of the degree of understanding.

There have been eras in the history of architecture in which spaces have been created in varying degrees of complexity. In the archaic time of the Greek Temples, space was defined, as a rule, by only a few axes, always parallel or perpendicular, both in the horizontal and vertical directions. These axes tied together the elements of the order, consisting of a base, a column with a capitol, and an entablature consisting of an architrave (beam), a frieze, and a cornice. Over time, the system of architectural order became more complex, acquiring stylistic features known to all as Doric, Ionic and Corinthian. In Ancient Rome, these elements were greatly developed, adding another order called composite. The structure of buildings became much more complex, primarily in the engineering sense. Dome and arched constructions appeared striking to the imagination. But the essence of relationships between parts, elements of space remained the same. It is symmetry and subordination to mutually intersecting axes.

This continued for many centuries, passing through the Romanesque style, Gothic and early Renaissance. In the Arab world, amazing architectural monuments were created, bringing new concepts such as the lancet arch or the rose window, later used in the Gothic. But in the 16th century there was a qualitative change that influenced all further development of architecture.

The Baroque era broke all the principles that had existed for a millennium. Architects realised that the interaction between parts of space does not have to adhere to a simple system of perpendicular coordinates. Thus Francesco Borromini saw that the impact of an object (column, niche, entablature, window) could develop in a three-dimensional system, not strictly subordinated to the 90 degree angle. That is, this right angle ceased to be decisive. The main principle became the impact of one part of space on another. Axes, directions of this influence could remain in a symmetrical system, could develop in a system of diagonal direction under the angle determined by the necessary point of "reception" of the element that entered the interaction.

Freed from the "fetters" of symmetry, the Baroque made spatial relations so complex that they began to determine its essence. All elements of Baroque space, down to the smallest details of decoration, work to strengthen the relationship between the subjects of this dialogue. Hundreds of axes of various elements, subordinated to the main direction of influence, multiply the effect of influence.

The main thing was not to follow the canon of the order, but to increase the impact on the consciousness of the person present. The consequence of this was the possibility of transformation of classical elements in new fantastic forms. Although in Romanesque orders images of animals appeared already; birds or monsters, but these were just signs, not affecting the spatial construction.

The Baroque completely changed the approach; now the main thing was not style, form or sign, but the tension in the fields of interaction between architecture and man.

Thus, already in the 16th century, a third stage of perception emerged, which we have labelled as the metaphysics of space. In the following years, the degree of its importance weakened, as in the times of classicism or Empire, where the image or sign took precedence. Then it intensified, as in the Art Nouveau era (though sometimes getting lost in decorative curves replacing real axes). Then the structure of spatial construction was brought to the chilling emptiness of constructivism. When, obeying the laws and principles of geometry, the architect moved into the field of formal play, enjoying the constructions he created.

In the second half of the 20th century, postmodernist architects once again revised their attitude to the subject and perhaps came closest to the splendid Baroque era, finding themselves free from many of the constraints imposed on the architect by style or structural canon. With a sense of self-irony that allowed them to escape from the hierarchy of values prevalent in modernist architecture, when the functionality of form became the law and departure from this principle meant inconsistency with the purity of high art. The architect was actually able to return to his real craft. The essence of which is to be a mediator between the building and the client, creating invisible links that allow people to be in contact with the architectural object, be it a house, a street or a city. And instead of cold, ideal buildings that repel people and create a zone of emptiness from which one wants to flee, spaces that restore the connection with man began to appear.

This is what the great Andrea Palladio spoke about in his work "Four Books on Architecture".

Despite all the benefits of postmodernism for consumers, it cannot be said that this movement conquered the world. Along the way there were both architects themselves, who continued to cling to the foundations of pure art, and commercial architecture, set on reproducing and endlessly repeating already tried and tested projects. All the more interesting is the fact that already in 1975, the Muslim public chose Paolo Portoghesi, an architect of the new age. This showed Islam's openness to the world and understanding of the value of real art. Compare the creepy pseudo-historical temples of the Orthodox Church, built without taking into account the context of the place, according to a standard project, with mosques built according to the designs of remarkable architects in many European cities. The findings will be obvious. 

 We have already mentioned Francesco Borromini, the greatest Baroque architect of the 17th century. In his church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane we will see the same divine penetration of light as in the Portoghesi Mosque. So, three and a half centuries later, the space of a small church in Rome has been recreated in a grandiose project of postmodern architecture. And in this is not only a confirmation of the interpenetration of cultures, but also an affirmation of the unity of the Almighty, leaving no room for discord and aggression of the Christian world, expressed in blatant Islamophobia, which struck Europe.

But we have digressed from the subject of our film. Before we enter the sublime atmosphere of the prayer hall, we are confronted with the external outline of the mosque. The site allocated by the Municipality of Rome for the construction is located in a green area of the city and the main road - Viale della Moschea - going to the city centre, runs in an arc contiguous with the area occupied by the mosque and the Islamic centre.

The architect was presented with a double challenge. To relate the mosque to the perception of the person walking along the road, so that the building faces the person and to maintain the canonical orientation towards the Kaaba, the protected mosque in Mecca. Thus, the main wall of the mosque with Mihrab, a niche indicating the direction - Qibla, calculated astronomically, is located perpendicular to the main axis. Along this axis are concentrated all the main buildings of the Islamic cultural centre complex. Entering the territory of the mosque, the worshipper finds himself in a skilfully created world of staircases, galleries and fountains, and already passing along a clearly defined axis of movement, turns to the axis of the prayer hall. This is how Portoghesi coped with the givenness of the site's location, preserving the canon and remaining within the postmodernist desire to accentuate spaces.

Another important decision by Portoghesi was the tree-like pillars that were moved outside the prayer hall. These columns, which are brought together with flying arches and create a complex play of light within the main space of the mosque, have taken on a second meaning once outside. They became a sensual sign of the forest - the space in which one finds himself before entering the temple. In addition, due to their shape and transparency, the columns very effectively tear off the roof of auxiliary buildings, creating an airy layer in which the person is located. And already on a symbolic level, the extruded concrete rods, following the entasis of the traditional column, when approaching its completion, diverge in four directions, personifying the hands of the praying person.

The Portoghesi project, created during the postmodernist revolution that was gaining momentum in the second half of the 20th century, certainly reflected the formal, one could say, stylistic signs of this time.

For example, we can clearly see the scheme of the plan with all its axes and centres of composition. And as it is customary in postmodernist architecture - this is directly expressed on the surface, on the plane of the object's location, using a characteristic grid of squares that set the scale and modularity, drawing axes from fixed centres marked by fountains, and reinforcing the influence of these centres with concentric arcs carved by stonemasons from light travertine, which delineate the paving stones.

And here is another favourite technique of postmodernism: direct quotation from the past. At the most accentuated point of the composition, in the square with the fountain, the paving of the Capitol Square is reproduced, a work by Michelangelo, which the great master completed in 1539.

This is how Paolo Portoghesi once again establishes the links between cultures. And so that we have no doubts about the obviousness of this quote, the architect adds to the composition the trace of the gentle staircase on the Capitoline hill.

But it is only a trace, such are the rules of postmodernism, to mix the obvious and the imaginary, to create hints and to point directly to the essence.

I think it is no coincidence that the axis of this imaginary staircase coincides with the axis of the Qibla, which points to Mecca.

And the choice of materials and images for the construction of the complex is not accidental. Everything was taken into account here. And the canonical absence of pictorial motifs and characteristic ornamental mosaics made by masters from North Africa. And travertine, the stone of the city of Rome. And modern tensegrity concrete, as a material that unites two cultures. A material that has no direct association on a tactile level, but connects them through its plasticity and work with light, which perfectly and cleanly from superfluous textures lies on the fantastic shapes of the structures, taking us away from the earthly world into the spiritual world.

The architect , who developed the theory of architectural space, who showed how the fields of influence of individual objects are formed, and how these fields in combination or interference begin to create a metaphysical effect on human consciousness, to involve him in a hidden design not expressed in external forms, Paolo Portoghesi became the man of the Renaissance, who was able to combine Muslim and Christian culture in its hidden community of spirit.

Project for the production of historical and educational films on Islamic culture  

First phase of the project 

Our acquaintance with Muslim culture took place a few years ago, when we fully devoted ourselves to working on restoring the historical and cultural traditions of the Chechen people. And then we encountered a phenomenon that had previously passed us by unnoticed. We, like everyone else, did not notice the disease that had struck society. Hidden as well as explicit Islamophobia is the name of this disease. Islamophobia has permeated all levels of the human community. At school, children, imitating their elders, bully their peers from Muslim families. In everyday life, on the street we hear insulting shouts against women who have their heads covered, while "civilised citizens" consider it quite normal to appear in public in such a way that not only a Muslim, but any person would be embarrassed and ashamed of. Representatives of the titular religions put on huge crosses, but an ordinary headscarf causes irritation. The matter goes much further, we have all witnessed monstrous attacks by right-wing radicals on Muslims in many cities in Europe, America, and the former Soviet Union. Just recently in Germany, parishioners of the Sultan Eyüp Mosque received threatening messages from neo-Nazis: "we will do to you what we did to the Jews. That day is near." Another German mosque received a similar message. But there is a country that has already gone through this state. This country was until recently called Russia; now the world calls it a sponsor of terrorism and its president, Putin - a war criminal. 30 years ago, his predecessor Boris Yeltsin, who seized power in a coup d'état, decided to repeat what the Nazis did to the Jews. The so-called "democratic president" found a new victim, and that victim was the Chechen people. The choice was not accidental. The Russian Empire had waged war on the Chechen people under both the Tsars and the Communists, and the "democrats" who came to power did not stand out with their originality. For them this victim was an obvious choice. And the fact that Chechens profess Islam made them the "ideal" enemy for the Russian people. The Russian special services created a legend, an image of a Muslim terrorist, and explained to their population why they should hate the Chechen people.

Over the past few years, we have made dozens of films in which we spoke about the Russian Federation's crimes in Chechnya and tried to bring the truth to Russians. We have achieved some success and can say, with a glimmer of hope, that some Russians have seen the true face of Islamophobia in their country. Having analysed what we have already done and having received a significant reaction from our viewers, we realised that today it is necessary to work with young people. Not only with young people in the Caucasus, but also with young people in Europe, America, in the countries of the former USSR, and in the Russian Federation itself.

Culture, tradition and religion are subtle tools through which you can reach the heart of a person. Most people in the Western world and in the world of the former Soviet empire know very little about Islam. Of course, there were republics with predominantly Muslim populations in the former Soviet Union, but only a few of them really understood Islamic culture. Often everything ended up on a primitive, everyday level, what can one say about the rest of the titular nation of the Empire. That is why it is so important to talk in detail and thoroughly about Islam with young people, to show all the greatness and humanism of the Islamic world through examples in art and architecture, to tell about the huge contribution of Muslims to world culture and to restore justice. Our experience in the field of architecture and media production gives us reason to believe that we can be useful in popularising Islamic culture.

Our first film will focus on the majestic Roman Mosque. Our aim will be to show our audience - Muslim and not only, especially young people - how intricately intertwined are the roots of the origin of a cultural tradition. And what a unique role Muslim architecture has played in the formation and development of world architecture.

Since the publication of Diana Darke's book Stealing from the Saracens: How Islamic Architecture Shaped Europe, there has been public interest in the origin of the Gothic three-pointed arch and other architectural elements traditionally attributed to the Christian tradition. In the professional architectural community, these discussions have never been reduced to a primitive understanding of the history of architectural style development. But it is important for us to show society that our cultural heritage is inextricably linked to the Muslim tradition, and we should remember and appreciate the cultural treasures that Europe has been enriched with thanks to the Islamic world.

Quote by Diana Darke: "How wonderful it would be in this age of Islamophobia and nationalism to recognise the ties that bind us together, often in mysterious and invisible ways, rather than trying to erase them from our history. My hope is that a deeper understanding of the common elements of Christian and Islamic architecture might encourage us to engage in greater interreligious dialogue, even with those we sometimes consider "enemies."

Our film is a documentary that takes place in a Roman mosque, where we will be filming on location. The presenter, Inna Kurochkina, will tell the viewers about the history of the mosque, about the 20-year peripeteia of obtaining a building permit from the municipality of Rome. The story will also touch upon the great architect Paolo Portoghesi, who became the author of this project. For more information and to clarify some aspects of Islamic culture, we turned to Arnold Yassin Mol, professor at the Islamic University of Rotterdam. The interview with the professor has already been published on our YouTube channel I NEWS.  We have prepared a film script, which we attach below.

The project will result in a full-fledged documentary film prepared for screening in our studio, using 3D animation and post-production.

The film will be shown on major TV channels for Russian-speaking audiences abroad, as well as on Georgian and Ukrainian television. Two TV channels with an audience of over 10 million viewers have already expressed their interest and intention to show our film, as evidenced by the attached letters of recommendation.

The implementation of the project consists of the following activities:

●     Writing a script for a documentary film

●     Creating footage, (shooting on location)

●     Shooting scenes with the participants of the documentary film

●     Working on the documentary in the studio

●     Creating computer graphics for design

●     Colour correction of video materials

●     Sound editing in the studio

●     Editing, dubbing and post-production

●     Distribution of the documentary on the Internet and various YouTube channels

●     Preparing the film for broadcast on TV channels

●     Monitoring of video content distribution

● Reporting and analysing results and statistics

The first part of the project will serve as a prologue to a series of documentaries on Islamic culture and architecture, and we plan to continue with other outstanding examples of Islamic architecture in Europe, the Maghreb, Egypt, Central Asia and Turkey.

In addition, we would like to pay attention to our neighbours, the countries of the Transcaucasus. One of the stories could be a film about Georgia, its unique culture rooted in antiquity and its modern achievements made possible by the figure of the reformist president Mikheil Saakashvili.

Our studio has extensive experience in making documentaries that have been shown on a wide range of European TV channels, as well as in Georgia and Ukraine. Our work can also be seen on our YouTube channel I NEWS (Ichkeria News).

The film will have a budget of €20,000

Costs include working on the film in the "field" and in the studio, transport and accommodation costs for the crew, and post-production costs.