The Giant Buddhas (2005)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Christian Frei

Release Date:

3 August 2006 (Germany)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

A filmmaker's investigation into the destruction of giant Buddha statues in Afghanistan. |

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Taysir Alony	...	Himself - Journalist
Sayeed Mirza Hussain	...	Himself - Bamiyan Cave Dweller (as Sayyed Mirza Hussain)
Peter Mettler	...	Narrator - English version
Nelofer Pazira	...	Herself - Journalist
Zémaryalaï Tarzi	...	Himself - Archaeologist
Xuanzang	...	Himself

Directed by
Christian Frei

Produced by
Christian Frei	....	producer
Madeleine Hirsiger	....	co-producer
Paul Riniker	....	co-producer
Peter Spoerri	....	line producer: pre-production

Original Music by
Jan Garbarek
Philip Glass
Steve Kuhn
Arvo Pärt

Cinematography by
Peter Indergand

Film Editing by
Christian Frei
Denise Zabalaga		(uncredited)

Production Management
Bernard Weber	....	executive production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Denise Zabalaga	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Florian Eidenbenz	....	sound designer
Florian Eidenbenz	....	sound mixer
Mark Kenna	....	consultant: Dolby film sound
Julien Martin	....	foley recording engineer
Dieter Meyer	....	sound
Gadou Naudin	....	foley artist

Visual Effects by
Paul Avondet	....	visual effects
Patrick Lindenmaier	....	visual effects supervisor
Patrick Lindenmaier	....	visual effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Massoum Quesmat	....	additional cinematography: UNESCO sequence

Editorial Department
Paul Avondet	....	color correction
Loredana Cristelli	....	edit supervisor
Patrick Lindenmaier	....	color correction
Denise Zabalaga	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Manfred Eicher	....	music consultant

Other crew
Paul Bucherer	....	advisor: Afghanistan Museum
Swen Connrad	....	video footage: historic sequence
Claudia De Morsier	....	translator: Chinese
Julius Effenberger	....	legal advisor
Béatrice Eglin	....	production assistant
Béatrice Eglin	....	researcher: television news compilation
Allegra Grevelius	....	translator: English
Armin Grün	....	advisor: ETH Zurich
Arham Haq	....	translator: Dari
Shoaib Harris	....	translator
James Lewis	....	video footage: historic sequence
Richard Liu	....	translator
Christian Manhard	....	advisor: UNESCO Paris
Belinda Pudil	....	production accountant
Thomas Pudil	....	production accountant
Yves Raeber	....	translator: French
Paul Riniker	....	narration supervisor
Jan Rofekamp	....	world sales
Satar Samim	....	translator
Top Treuhand	....	production accountant
Denise Zabalaga	....	translator: Arabic
Denise Zabalaga	....	translator: Dari

Thanks
Peter G. Achten	....	thanks
Mohammad Rahim Aliyar	....	thanks
Jihad Ali Ballout	....	thanks
Siddiq Barmak	....	thanks
Roland Besenval	....	thanks
Damien Cordier	....	thanks
Marc Deville	....	thanks
Daisy Du	....	thanks
Abdul Wasey Feroozi	....	thanks
Sarah Finke	....	thanks
Philippe Flandrin	....	thanks
Ute Franke-Vogt	....	thanks
Martin Hadlow	....	thanks
Ibrahim Helal	....	thanks
Helen Heller	....	thanks
Hu Ji	....	thanks
Abdul Karim Khalili	....	thanks
Deema Khatib	....	thanks (as Dima Khatib)
Laurent Lévi-Strauss	....	thanks
Kosaku Maeda	....	thanks
Christian Manhart	....	thanks
Omara Khan Massoodi	....	thanks
Edmund Melzl	....	thanks
He Miao	....	thanks
Sha Mohammad	....	thanks
David M. Ostriker	....	thanks (as David Ostriker)
Zafar Paiman	....	thanks
Michael Petzet	....	thanks
Yu Quntong	....	thanks
Sayyed Makhdoom Raheen	....	thanks
Michaël Rakotozonia	....	thanks
Nader Rassouli	....	thanks
Gisela Treichler	....	thanks
Thomas Urban	....	thanks
Ouyang Xiaoping	....	thanks
Li Xichen	....	thanks
Sun Jian Ying	....	thanks
Hassan Zaki	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Christian Frei Filmproductions
• Arte
• Schweizer Fernsehen (FS)

Distributors

• Look Now! (2005) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Films Transit International (2005) (worldwide) (TV)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (Switzerland) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Im Tal der grossen Buddhas (Switzerland: German title) (TV title)

Runtime:

Canada:95 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

Switzerland

Language:

Arabic | Dari | English | French | Mandarin

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva)

Company:

Christian Frei Filmproductions

Soundtrack:

Lord Chamberlain

Not much there.

I just saw this film at the Florida Film Fest and I can't believe that it made it into the fest at all. I am sure that the film makers went to a great deal of trouble, but the resulting film has almost no structure and no interest in Buddism.

There was a great deal of hand held footage of the camera zoomed in and pointed at the ground as someone walked along creating the "Blair Witch seasick " effect.

I did not feel that the filmmakers had a point of view that I did not agree with. It seemed that there was no point of view at all, just people poking around broken rocks. Again, I know how hard it is even to make a short film in your own back yard, so I feel bad saying this, but the subject is so rich that a much better film could be made with a different script and stock footage.