The Giant Buddhas
In February 2001, the Taliban issued an edict that all non-Islamic statues should be destroyed. In March of the same year, two huge statues of Buddha were blown up in the remote area of Bamiyantal in Afghanistan. This dramatic event surrounding the ancient stone colossi – unique proof of an advanced...
| Other Authors: | |
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| Institution: | Open Society Archives at Central European University |
| Language: | Prakrit English Arabic French Mandarin Chinese |
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Films Transit International
2005
Switzerland |
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10891/osa:25288c3e-8d9c-4489-aa01-c37424c2f38d |
| Summary: | In February 2001, the Taliban issued an edict that all non-Islamic statues should be destroyed. In March of the same year, two huge statues of Buddha were blown up in the remote area of Bamiyantal in Afghanistan. This dramatic event surrounding the ancient stone colossi – unique proof of an advanced culture that bloomed until the 13th century along the Silk Road – is the starting point for a cinematic essay on fanaticism, terror and tolerance, ignorance and identity. On another path, in another period, Frei follows the footsteps of Xuanzang, the seventh-century Chinese monk famed for his sixteen-year spiritual quest along the Silk Road to India. Bamiyan was one of his stops. In Canada, Afghan writer and journalist Nelofer Pazira reflects on an old photograph of her father posing before the giant Buddhas. In Leshan, China, the director witnesses a kitschy attempt to rebuild the Bamiyan Buddha as a tourist attraction; while in Zurich high-tech reconstructions are created using "photogrammetry." A thought-provoking journey along the lines that both divide and unite people and cultures. |
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| Published: | 2005 |