Baraka by Mpi Home Video

Description

Baraka, an ancient Sufi word with forms in many languages, translates as a blessing, or as the breath or essence of life from which the evolutionary process unfolds. A transcendently poetic tour of the globe, Baraka was shot in breathtaking 70mm in 24 countries on six continent.

Set to the life affirming rhythms of varied religious rituals and nature's own raw beat, Baraka is a visualization of the interconnectedness humans share with the earth. Spanning such diverse locales as China, Brazil, Kuwait and major U.S and European sites, among others, Baraka captures not only the harmony, but also the calamity that humans and nature have visited upon the earth. However, mere words do not do the film justice – Baraka must be seen, felt and experienced to be understood.

A World Beyond Words

Without words, cameras show us the world, with an emphasis not on “where,” but on “what's there.” It begins with morning, natural landscapes and people at prayer: volcanoes, water falls, veldts, and forests; several hundred monks do a monkey chant. Indigenous peoples apply body paint; whole villages dance. The film moves to destruction of nature via logging, blasting, and strip mining. Images of poverty, rapid urban life, and factories give way to war, concentration camps, and mass graves. Ancient ruins come into view, and then a sacred river where pilgrims bathe and funeral pyres burn. Prayer and nature return. A monk rings a huge bell; stars wheel across the sky.