Baraka (film)

Baraka

Baraka is an incredible nonverbal film containing images of 24 countries from 6 continents.

It c ontains no dialogue. Instead of a st ory or plot, the film uses themes and

images to present new perspectives a nd evoke emotion purely through film.

Through imagery, the film shows the diversity of the way people approach spirituality, religion, life and death, the struggle for survival and so on . The goal was for the viewer to have an inner journey, and the absence of both dialogue and commentary was intended to leave space for an internal dialogue, and allows the viewer to be guided by the music and the imagery .

The movi e was fi l medi n24 countries:Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, China, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Italy, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Nepal, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey and the United States.

1. What part do the senses play in the acquisition of knowledge?

2. Can emotions be classified as good or bad?

3. Can there be correct, or appropriate, emotional response to any piece of knowledge?

4. Is faith purely emotional or is it possible to provide a rational justification for religious belief? Is emotion a source of spiritual knowledge?

Tibetan monks, Orthodox Jews, Whirling Dervishes, a solar eclipse, Buddhist monks, African tribal rituals, Jerusalem's Wailing Wall, rain forests, Ayers Rock, Big Sur country, Hawaiian volcanoes, Brazilian slums, time-lapse footage of car and pedestrian traffic, post-Persian Gulf War shots of Kuwait's burning oil fields, burning-of-the-dead ceremonies on the Ganges, refuse dumps of Calcutta, Auschwitz, Egyptian Pyramids, Angkor Wat, Mount Everest, Tuol Sleng in Cambodia, Indonesian factory workers.

1. How does the absence of spoken language impact on knowledge acquisition during the film?

2. What about internal dialogue? Did you add ‘language’ through your own thoughts?

3. Is thought fully formed in language or fragments combined with emotional responses?

Baraka is a word of Middle Eastern origin. It is defined as the “sanctity of blessings bestowed upon a person by a saint or marabout belonging to the Islamic faith”.

Also, Baraka is an American essayist/poet who looked at the themes mainly to do with racial conflict in the USA.

It is a barrage of images that transcend language.

On to the film …