August Festival 2007

Carousel: The attraction of this short film was immediate. I recognized the honest devotional spirit of the artisan/narrator, and it struck chords with me, perhaps because in it I saw many parallels with my own spiritual life.

The narrator is obviously well-immersed in his Christian life and has learned the art of 'walking the walk' in his daily work, not just 'talking the talk' on a Sunday. This practical spirituality appealed to me. He compared his scraping away the layers of old paint on the chariot horses with his experiences of the cleansing, redemptive powers of God. I enjoyed his analogies. The art of analogy helps clarify something that may otherwise be unclear. My pleasure increased as the film continued. I recognized more feelings intrinsic to my own discipline. Elemental to my Bhakti (devotional) Yoga path is the daily chanting of mantras, or holy prayerful supplications to God. In this heartfelt mood, the layers of forgetfulness of God, like that old paintwork on the carousel horses, are removed.

It is said in Sanskrit 'Cheto darpana marjanam' - remembering the holy names of God cleanses the dust from the heart, and thus reveal the original clean, pure identity within. This is just like the original paintwork of those horses that our artisan speaks of, and how it has been covered by grime for many years. The exquisite workmanship of the artisan is a thing of beauty. Such works can certainly be dedicated to God. They are works in devotion, like the labours of ancient craftsmen who toiled tirelessly to build and decorate cathedrals, temples and mosques.

Especially poignant were the narrator’s honest recollections of those cold mornings when coming to work was less than appealing. It brought me back to my days as a monk, when rising early in the temple was a challenge. Yet when I entered the temple and begun my service, I immediately became fresh and awake. The sound of the narrator’s voice lifts slightly as he describes with almost tangible pleasure the upliftment from sleepiness to wakefulness upon seeing the beauty of the eagle and chariot, his current sacred work-in-progress.

All this talk of horses and chariots rung more bells with me; I recalled what I learned from the primeval scripture Bhagavad-gita; While poised for battle many thousands of years ago, Arjuna, the ancient Bhakti-yogi warrior and chariot driver of Krishna, was taught by God about this art of devotional work: "Therefore, Arjuna, you should always think of Me and at the same time continue your prescribed duty of fighting. With your activities dedicated to Me and your mind and intelligence fixed on Me, you will attain Me without doubt."

Remembering the Lord while working for him in daily life lifts one from the mundane to the spiritual. It is the art of all work. And it seems to be an art our carousel artist has learned well.

I was very impressed with my first exposure to ‘Campfire’ – what a great way to use the web! I was very hard put to choose between my two favourites, Portrait of a Stranger and Fundamentalism vs Evolution. Both are so pertinent to our time. In the end I chose Fundamentalism vs Evolution, because I wrote more about it, and because it was so short and effective as a thought and discussion trigger.

This very short but clever piece in the genre of b&w silent suggests what will happen between the ‘adherents of Bible’ and the ‘followers of Darwin’. On first viewing it doesn’t seem to go anywhere in its brief life (1.10) and this could be the overarching point! Isn’t this why so many people are turned off religion – it can only end in a train-smash? But the short concludes with a picture of ‘The Founder of Fundamentalism’ – and perhaps this is the real point intended. It is worth watching more than once.

We have loved and read the bible for thousands of years without having to take it literally – and without it having to prove itself against scientific understanding, before this ridiculous adherence to it in the face of fact. The Bible is poetry, legend, myth – it contains deep and eternal understandings of God and human nature.

Jews say of the Torah (Hebrew Bible) as we read through it each year – ‘turn it and turn it, for all is in it.’ In other words, when we re-read, we can see or understand something new, perhaps because we have learned something new about the world or ourselves or our fellow human beings since last we read it. ‘God does not require us to believe in absurdities’. Belief in the bible need not be in conflict with our knowledge of the world – which is, of course, also ‘God-given’.

Chance: This film wonderfully portrays a serious enigma in the youth of our society. The film conveys message that a religious faith helps one to elevate oneself from Junk. Though this is partly correct it is not 100% the case. Especially in the lives of youth there will be a greater influence of society they move with and the true values of life taught from childhood plays a dominant role. People with religious faith can also tread an incorrect path in life, ignoring the values taught in the Bible. To cite an example I refer to priests who were involved in child abuses and other crimes in our society.

The question is whether religious education truly mends ones life!? Hindu religion believes that the Karma (Deeds) in ones life is the influence of ones ill/good deeds of past birth. This principle do not allow the individuals just to get away with ill-deeds with an excuse that one is doing it with the influence of deeds in his/her past birth. It calls for a revolution/change in ones attitude and work towards repentance, purity of soul and endeavour for truthfulness in life.

The education system in schools should also be considered to analyse what it is contributing in understanding children behavioural problems and ways to amend those problems, it is quite helpful if schools observe and analyse the behavioural problems and work with families to amend such problems in children.

TV is a very good medium in which to communicate appropriate messages to communities and families. Budding film makers as part of their documentary should seek a forum where families and communities can express their concerns and work together to achieve a common objective of uplifting of our children's welfare and promoting good values in life to our youth who are our future Citizens of Australia.

The Foxhole Manifesto: Animator, Nick Fox-Gieg, stays true to the itchy, sweaty black and white world McDaniel throws at us with a curious addition of six arms per man and deity. Rather than a didactic discourse, The Foxhole Manifesto invites us to a discussion. A visual adaptation to the works of Jeffrey McDaniel, we are taken through a crude, macabre journey of McDaniel's experiences of who God is or rather how He is pitched.

Our souls are an awful bunch, we want the best of what God has to offer yet ridicule and shun the idea of being taken to account. Worse yet, He is our trophy, intimate, jousting stick, best mate, football mascot, meal ticket and first stone aimed and ready. McDaniel's critique of man's relationship with God, has an underlying point of ownership of the Divine. Thus the oxymoron, how can God be possessed by creation.

Even McDaniel concludes that he too has found a perception of God to put in his pocket. He is after an unadulterated 100% free of human intervention God of his own. Not far from the prophetic tradition, when elders of the tribe of Israel demanded from the Prophet Moses that God show Himself before them.

A homing beacon within our soul, the desire to experience God in a completely subjective manner. McDaniel finds this, when his gall bladder was about to hit the fan. The God of Mercy answers, when no one else is there to pick up the phone.

The analogy of life as being like a movie, a projection, is often used in Buddha Dharma to describe the nature of our experience. We perceive things according to our perception; we misinterpret what is just a projection as reality, the real deal. Therefore film seems to be a good medium for discussing the nature of mind. As a Buddhist I do not believe in God. However it seems evident that what people call God is many different things depending on the culture and religion of the person speaking.

There seems to be as many ways of thinking about and describing God as there are human beings. Ultimately however it seems there is some very basic understanding of something beyond the ordinary, of something divine, that human beings feel compelled to relate to. We Buddhists call that ‘fundamental goodness’ or ‘the pure nature of mind’. Many of these short films seem to be trying to express that fundamental goodness, and some are happy just to express the fact that our conceptions of God are just that, conceptions, of the ordinary thinking mind, and therefore shift and change as we shift and change.

All of these films should be praised for making the attempt to discuss something that, though core to the heart of many beings, is very difficult to describe or discuss without falling into platitudes and clichés. Bravo to Campfire – may it illuminate our minds and create a space in which interfaith dialogue, which is a real necessity at this time, can occur in a spirit of friendship.

Carousel: This interesting short is rich in visual and spiritual metaphor. The narrator, who is never clearly identified, recounts how his strong faith helps him to persevere at the painstaking tasks required to restore weathered float horses, and other beasts, on an ageing carousel. The images that accompany this message are beautifully shot and document the different stages of the restoration process; they cause one to look again at the magnificence of these cultural artefacts.

At its heart, the film discusses the constant need to scrape away at our own hubris and self-importance to attain spiritual purity, neatly parallelling the fascinating restoration process documented in images. The message is simple; with constant effort and unwavering faith we may all attain the glowing magnificence of the eagle chariot shown in one of the final scenes in the film. If only all work was as rewarding as this!

While it was interesting to hear how this man’s faith helps him to renew his daily efforts in the workplace, the same message could be told of any worker battling against the daily grind. To me, faith is just one way of enduring the trials that come with the need to work. In the place of faith, others might call upon creativity, money, power, responsibility, even survival.

Portrait of a Stranger: I remember arriving home one Saturday afternoon having just purchased food for our two family dogs. As I pulled into the driveway, my heart sank as I realised that the gate had blown open, and the dogs were gone. What followed was an anxious hour-long search – a memory that causes me to immediately empathise with the central character of ‘Portrait of a Stranger’.

A dishevelled, older gentleman frantically searches his neighbourhood, looking for a person or place depicted upon a photograph. As this stressed man seeks help from one person after another, I feel his despair mounting. He needs to find ‘it’, but no one can – or indeed, wants to – assist. Laughter or indifference are his only replies. It isn’t until he encounters a little girl on the street that the gentleman finds tangible help. With childhood curiosity, the girl takes time to look at the photograph. She listens to the man’s pleas. Reaching out and taking his hand, she leads the man to a shop window. There, she shows him in the reflection that the person from the photograph that he frantically seeks is actually himself. Neater, cleaner, and tidier. The simple aid of a child helps this man rediscover his own self.

This film makes some potent points in its four short minutes.

I’m first reminded of the tragedy of pre-forming judgements about people. We can so often push away others for being dirty or unfriendly (literally or figuratively), without considering the very valid reasons they might have for being so. Like the little girl here, or the Good Samaritan in the Gospel of Luke, how often do we bring ourselves to just stop, look and listen to the plight of the anxious or distressed? Our gentleman couldn’t care for himself, because he did not know who he was. But with the sacrifice of just a few minutes of the girl’s time, he begins his journey towards recovery, regathering a sense of being, of dignity, of self.

We are also drawn to personally identify ourselves along with the man in his plight. The frantic camera footage in this film encourages us to journey each step of his search with him. I’m certain this is intentional, an important reminder for each of us that, just as we need to be aware of ‘lost’ others, we are also susceptible to becoming lost ourselves. This gentleman needed someone else to help identify both his need, and where to find it.

To me, ‘Portrait of a Stranger’ thus effectively frames the interconnectedness of the human being – our reliance upon one another for direction, for calm, for sanity, for life. Whether needing other people or God-intervention (perhaps both!), this four minutes of film reminds us that none of us can find meaning and direction on our own. Which leads me to ask, which role am I playing right now? The lost man? The little girl? A mocking neighbour?

I would be hard pressed to choose between films Carousel, Foxhole and Chance, but if I had to choose it would be the Foxhole Manifesto on the basis of its soundtrack.

As far as a film to provoke thought, this was the best. The commentary was just brilliant. It took the form of a stand-up routine and sought to challenge the way that the church and Christians sometimes portray God. A powerful and evocative film. The graphics were helpful but I didn’t like the graphics. (But many do and I realise that this is more of a personal preference).