Buddha Collapsed out of Shame

Buda az sharm foro rikht

Hana Makhmalbaf, France/Iran, 2007, 81 min

In Farsi with English subtitles

Script: Marzieh Meshkini

Cast: Nikbakht Norouz, Abbas Alijome

Winner, Crystal Bear, Peace Film Award, Berlin Film Festival, Jury Award, San Sebastian Film Festival

Friday, 7 November 2008, at 9:00 p.m

Innis Town Hall

The title of the movie comes from an observation by renowned Iranian film director Mohsen Makhmalbaf. "Even a statue can be ashamed of witnessing all this violence and harshness happening to these innocent people and, therefore, collapse." What he refers to is the ruthlessness of the Taliban’s rule over the people of Afghanistan.

With the ruins of the Buddha statues as the backdrop, the story follows the struggles of Baktay, a six-year old girl as she tries to get to school. Having finally found the money to buy a precious notebook, and taking her mother's lipstick for a pencil, she sets out. On her way, she is harassed by boys playing war games that mimic the terrible violence they have witnessed. Will Baktay be able to escape these violent games and reach the school?

The little girl's long and arduous journey provides numerous cultural references to modern day Afghanistan

Watch trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZB92w2TPmk (trailer in Farsi with French subtitles)

Hana Makhmalbaf

Hana was born in Tehran. She has been studying cinema at her family’s Makhmalbaf Film School since she left elementary school in the second grade. She was a script supervisor and still photographer on several of her family’s films before she directed her first short, The Day My Aunt Was Ill (97). She then directed a documentary called Joy of Madness (03) about her sister Samira Makhmalbaf directing At Five in the Afternoon (03). She published a book of poetry, Visa for One Moment, in 2003. Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame (07) is her first feature film.