The man who has stolen in order never to thieve again remains a thief. Nobody who has ever betrayed his principles can have a pure relationship with life. Therefore when a film-maker says he will produce a pot-boiler in order to give himself the strength and the means to make the film of his dreams - that is so much deception, or worse, self-deception. He will never now make his film.
From "Sculpting in Time" by Andrei Tarkovsky

“Everyday life is surrealistic”, says Jodorowsky, “made of miracles, weird and inexplicable events. There is no borderline between reality and magic.” Using a flurry of archetypal symbols to tap into a collective unconscious becomes his means of transcending this borderline. But for all the “objective art” supposedly produced in this way, Jodorowsky's films are also very personal pictures (often featuring him and his sons in central acting roles) reflecting his spiritual development. Foremost is his belief in making films into books of sacred symbols inducing spiritual illumination; reminiscent of Artaud's ideas about transforming the spectator, everyone making and viewing his films (himself especially) should be destroyed and reborn as new people. For this reason, he shoots his films in sequence from beginning to end, using the filmmaking process as a search for spiritual illumination, beginning with an initiation rite (i.e. violence, for he believes that art must be violent) and moving toward enlightenment. In Fando y Lis, the key to illumination (Tar) lies within oneself, and this belief is maintained throughout the subsequent films in various forms: El Topo represents Jodorowsky's negotiation of Zen Buddhism, while The Holy Mountain is based in Sufism and the writings of G.I. Gurdjieff, Tusk deals with Hinduism and Tantrism, and Santa Sangre springs from “psychomagic”.

More here :)

Hinterland - the film?

The story of a man, K, and his teenage daughter, M, beginning an expedition of India on a couple of bicycles. Inspired by the themes of Zen & the art of motorcycle maintenance and Motorcycle diaries, the film would follow the journey of father and daughter through the hinterlands of India. Breaking away from the city life, they begin the epic one year long journey to learn about life, family, oneness and love in the heart of India. The map is one that K is familiar with and has undertaken many many years ago. So, this time around he goes in search of his old friends in the villages to introduce his daughter to them and also give her a taste of the real India.

India could really do with a film like this. It has mass appeal, could easily be a box-office success, and would, most importantly, be a vehicle or even an inspiration for people to break away from the monotony of their 9-5 lives and explore what this wonderful country has to offer. Coinciding with the release of the film, a website containing the detailed map could be launched. The film could also spur on a concept for an ongoing TV-series where every fortnight, father and daughter go exploring another little hidden gem, another diorama.

Aesthetic components of the brain is a nice name for a band.

Mr. Burn got bit by an elephant

Two days of intensive discussions on film, life, art in general, cities, society and the future of humanity. And within those, interludes of Rat and Bear, Holy Mountain and El Topo. A very rich two days thanks to a chance meeting with Gabriel, a Belgian writer-thinker-violin & miniature guitar player. Oh not to forget he rides a cycle-rickshaw in Barcelona. And the best thing - he listens. Carefully listens, asks questions, reads the synopsis of my films in extreme detail reading everything out loud. Its been refreshing to have met him. And his sense of humour, wow. Really like Alice in wonderland, but Alice on LSD. Among other things, we spoke of the insignificance of a life spent buying Prada slippers, Armani watches & ck underwear (to think I was all that!), of a society that has lost the plot, of a people living in a time where they have no connection with their own inner selves, of the foreigners who come to India and cycle around everywhere with their children - the richness of that, the inward arc, of selling out working in commercial graphic design - making rich companies richer, of "flaunting it" a book about the power of shopping and owning and above all flaunting it and women wanting to be with someone purely on the size of a man's, errr, bank balance, of the floating man productions and its rather absurd logo, of being bit by an elephant!

I will be seeing him everyday till I leave. We even jammed last night at his place, him on the violin, me on the miniature while my boatman was rolling the J. I am having too many ideas these days. Its got to be the electricity of Benaras, one of the strangest yet inspiring places ever. How about a series of films like "The Belgian in Benaras" - peoples ideas of the place, what it means to them, etc. Go on then, do it Mordecai! Knives out...

X-two-oh!

I'm speaking in tongues with the pilgrims
who are shadowing the cylindrical sun
casting their way on the path to the invisible.
Breaking the circumference of the self
and opening their heart to whats really there.
Revealing themselves only to some,
hiding from the burdened ones.

Red, Green & Blue Mountains

The three adult-oriented learning facilities are called Red Mountain, Green Mountain & Blue Mountain. These complexes house the Architecture, Music & Film centres respectively. The three structures are built pyramid-style(cylindrical cones) with branches going out into semi-circle domes housing the production facilities within each of the modules. People living and learning in these complexes carry colour-coded armbands which then facilitate in the inter-mingling of the fields thereby opening up numerous avenues for collaboration. A design for the living (triangle) & learning (semi-circles) wings is underway.

A New Hinterland

In the near future, there will be a new kind of society where the urban mentality meets the village landscape. In these hinterlands of the future, every living entity or society would consist of the village and attached to the village in places near and in the jungles would be institutions. A list of 9 institutions have been outlined.
1/ GLASS OF GRASS. A vegetarian restaurant set in the heart of the forest.
2/ Soul (The School of unconventional learning): A school for city kids and village children that teaches fine arts and performing arts, conducts festivals, abolishes the concept of examination totally and follows a different approach to the convention of academia aiming to provide an alternative to it. The school houses camps with artists, musicians, sculptors, dancers and organises field trips into the village homes understanding their way of life.
3/ HQ: The recording studio that collaborates with artists from all over the country working on music projects and song compositions to be released quarterly. HQ also houses a venue for concerts. Apparently this is where The Strangest Band became popular with their 7 feet high animal constumes and acoustic sounds.
4/ Filmrose: A structure modelled on the design of a rose; each petal housing rooms and secret spaces for film screenings. Here, film enthusiasts meet, watch movies, collaborate on projects and have access to world-class shooting and editing equipment. (I saw a very strange film there once called Buickgreen about a white man in Varanasi falling in love with a local girl, falling out of love with her, strangling her with his lungi and very cleverly covering up the murder by having her secretly burnt in Manikarnika)
5/ The Interactive Kitchen: A restaurant opened by four friends and ace chefs. They cook live for their customers and in the process also detail the whole process right from vegetable farming to ingredients. Cookery classes and field trips contribute financially to this venture. This kitchen also is responsible for the food supply to planets of this Hinterland.
6/ Ode, The home for the Orphans, the Disabled and the Elderly: A structure set in the serene expanses of the mountains, housing an elaborate botanical garden that is maintained and taken care of by the residents. The orphans are taught in Soul.
7/ A childrens film & drama centre: This space screens intelligent cinema for children upto the age of 17. The films are categorised and discussions with adults follow screenings. The children who visit this faculty also have the option to study drama and puppeteering. Their performaces are showcased in the HQ and at the special auditorium at ODE.
8/ Yoga Cafe: This is a hotel where all the rooms have glass structures cantilevered into nature. The rooms are thin and long with high ceilings. During your stay here, you can begin your study of Yoga, understand the learnings of Advaita Vedanta and of spiritual Guru's like Sri Aurobindo, Kabir & Ramana Maharshi. Throughout their stay they are provided vegetarian food from Glass of Grass.
9/ The Library housing a large collection of art books, books on film and music & books on spirituality and philosophy.

This could be elaborated into a book with illustrations and conceptual drawings of the aesthetic of each of these planets. The book would read like a visit to a new utopia in the future. A visit to a self-sustaining society built on the grounds of humanity, learning and peace. The book could be called "Hinterland: Ideas for the government, Ideas for the developers, Ideas for people".

I'm watching everything... the buffaloes, the dogs, the parakeets, the pilgrims, the monkeys, the tourists, the water, the sky... watching everything without perspective.