Entertainment | Film & Cinema
'We're all spiritual beings invited to the planet by life'
Ron Fricke, director of Baraka, says the film is about our relationship to the eternal. Baraka was screened outdoors in a film making style that Fricke describes as a form of "guided meditation".
- By Vinita Bharadwaj, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:31 May 3, 2009
Making movies is hard work and a lot of it usually hinges on a good script. However, when there's no script or dialogue and it's a film that falls into the category of non-verbal filmmaking, the task becomes surprisingly harder.
Director Ron Fricke, whose film Baraka was screened outdoors describes his style of filmmaking as a form of "guided meditation".
Filmed with just six people, devoid of any script and characters, Fricke and his team filmed across 24 countries for 12 months, with some near-death experiences, Fricke says it's the offbeat nature of the film that excites him.
Is Baraka in the same league as Koyaanisqatsi [a non-verbal art film that used different film techniques that hadn't been tried out before]?
Pretty much. I worked on Koyaanisqatsi - I had to practise saying that name a few times in front of the mirror - as cinematographer and co-edited it but I like the non-verbal style of filmmaking as it engages a certain part of the brain.
Baraka means inner blessing in Arabic and it's a word that's part of everyone's culture.
What's the message of the film?
It's about humanity's relationship to the eternal and that everything is really linked to nature.
Is it a spiritual film?
I think we're all spiritual beings who got invited to the planet by life. Life is our host and no one got to approve the guest list.
What's the creative process of a non-verbal film?
It's like a party. You just let it take its own course.
Is there a market?
The DVDs have done really well. It's been a bestseller. Everyone now has a home theatre system so they're apparently doing real well.
It took a Francis Ford Coppola to lend his name for marketing Koyaanisqatsi. Why didn't you use him for Baraka?
Well I would have loved to, but they don't want to be associated with non-verbal films anymore. It's hard to get big names for non-verbal films now.
The Dalai Lama?
Funny you say that. We're talking to his office for a feature film called Becoming Buddha. Let's see what comes out of it.
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