We are in Bamiyan, the great valley in Afghanistan, where in February of 2001, the Taliban issued an edict that all non-Islamic statues be destroyed. By March, the Buddhas (At 53 meters high, one of them was the tallest representation of Buddha in the world) had been blown to bits. International outrage ensued and the hypocrisy of this is one of the subjects of Frei's beautiful inquiry.
Frei retraces the footsteps of Xuanzang, the 7thcentury Chinese monk famed for his 16-year spiritual quest along the Silk Road to India. Bamiyan was one of his pit stops. Xuanzang's journals tantalize with evocative descriptions of the Bamiyan Buddhas and tease with mention of an even grander Buddha at a nearby monastery. Estimated to be 300 meters long, it would be the largest statue in human history, an 8th wonder.
Fascinated by the legend of the "sleeping Buddha," archaeologist Zémaryalaï Tarzi begins to excavate, even as he decries the plundering of Afghanistan's history. The film also captures a kitschy attempt to rebuild the Bamiyan Buddha as tourist attraction in China.
Meanwhile, in Canada, Afghan writer and journalist Nelofer Pazira responds to Frei's letters during his journey and reflects on an old photograph of her father posing before THE GIANT BUDDHAS, while Frei follows the plans for high-tech reconstructions using "photogrammetry" and "anastylosis."
An essay about terrorism and tolerance, ignorance and identity, fanaticsm and faith.
French, German, Spanish and Italian subtitles are available for download only in DVD format.
DAFilms.com is powered by Doc Alliance, a creative partnership of 7 key European documentary film festivals. Our aim is to advance the documentary genre, support its diversity and promote quality creative documentary films.
Please choose one of following payment gates you'd like to pay through:
or subscribe to our online cinema
and watch over 2000 films in your browser:
By clicking this button, you declare that you are over the age of 18 and confirm both your consent to the DAFilms Terms and Conditions and that you have familiarised yourself with the [Principles of Personal Data Processing]. By making a payment, you are also requesting that the selected content be provided to you immediately upon confirmation of your order.
