In the valley of the great Buddhas
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | In the valley of the great Buddhas |
| Original title | The Giant Buddhas |
 | |
| Country of production | Switzerland |
| original language | Arabic , Dari , Chinese , English , French |
| Publishing year | 2005 |
| length | 95 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Christian Frei |
| production | Christian Frei |
| music |
Jan Garbarek , Philip Glass , Steve Kuhn , Arvo Pärt |
| camera | Peter Indergand |
| cut | Christian Frei, Denise Zabalaga |
| occupation | |
| |
In the valley of the great Buddhas is a documentary by the Swiss director Christian Frei . The film is about the Buddha statues of Bamiyan and their destruction on March 12, 2001 .
content
In various documentary narrative strands, individual aspects of the presence and destruction of this important cultural heritage are shown. Filmmaker Frei tells these stories in the form of letters to the Afghan-Canadian writer Nelofer Pazira, whose father visited the Bamiyan Valley as a student in the old kingdom of Afghanistan, on the trail of the past. She herself grew up in Kabul during wartime .
Based on his notes, the film follows an early pilgrim, the Chinese wandering monk Xuanzang , on the Silk Road from Xi'an via Dunhuang to the west, where he came across the still young statues.
The question of why Bamiyan was chosen for these monumental monuments will also be investigated. Inspired by Xuanzang's notes, the archaeologist Zémeryalaï Tarzi, professor at the Marc Bloch University in Strasbourg , digs for a mysterious 300-meter-long reclining Buddha in the Bamiyan valley. He complains that Afghanistan has been robbed of many of its cultural assets by looting, as such items are even more lucrative commercial goods than drugs.
Sayed Mirza Hussain is a Hazara from Bamiyan who suffered greatly under the rule of the Taliban . After their fall, he and his family had to leave the UNESCO- protected area and move from his rock apartment to a housing estate, which is an hour away from the nearest water point.
As an Arab Al Jazeera journalist, Taysir Alony was an eyewitness to the demolition. He wanted to be part of the "blockbuster" and deliver sensational pictures, although he also felt guilty. In his view, the whole world wanted to save the statues, but they did not care much about the fate of Afghanistan.
Shortly after the blast in Afghanistan, stonemasons in Leshan, China , made a kitschy copy of the Bamiyan Buddha. On the other hand, the plans of the ETH in Zurich for a reconstruction of the statues on site, which are welcomed by many Afghans but have not yet been realized, are professional . For the time being, existing fragments should be inserted into the niches.
The film ends with Nelofer Pazira's visit to the remains of the destroyed Great Buddha of Bamiyan. She imagines what the imposing statue would have looked like a few years ago.
background
Scenes on Buddhist art and history were effectively highlighted with the soundtrack by Philip Glass to the film Kundun .
Awards
- DOK Leipzig 2005: Silver Dove
- Dokufest Prizren 2006: 1st prize ex aequo
- Trento Film Festival 2006: Silver Gentian
- Tahoe / Reno International Film Festival 2006: Best of the Fest - Documentary
- 2006 Sundance Film Festival : Nominated for the Grand Jury Prize for Feature Documentaries
- Swiss Film Prize 2006: Nominated for the Swiss Quartz Film Prize in the “Best Documentary” category
- Toronto International Film Festival 2005: Official Selection
Web links
- The Giant Buddhas in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Giant Buddhas movie website