alr

Forest of Bliss

Screening on Film
Vintage Print
Directed by Robert Gardner.
US, 1987, 35mm, color, 90 min.
Print source: HFA

Transcending the usual means of anthropological filmmaking, Forest of Bliss is a singularly poetic work, a modernist "city symphony" that creates a panoramic portrait of the ancient Indian city of Benares. Shaped to occupy the time between two sunrises, the film focuses on people—both the living, seeking purification in the Ganges, and the countless dead who are cremated on its banks. By eschewing the use of voiced commentary or subtitles, Robert Gardner has created a uniquely visual work that subtly acknowledges the outsider status of both the filmmaker and the viewer while powerfully capturing the multitudes at work, at play, and at prayer.

Part of film series

Read more

Nonfiction Film

Current and upcoming film series

Read more

Jean-Pierre Bekolo, 2024 McMillan-Stewart Fellow

Read more

The Practice (and Other Works) By Martín Rejtman

Read more

Chronicles of Changing Times. The Cinema of Edward Yang

Read more
Gene Hackman crouched beside a toilet with audio equipment

From the HFA Collection...

Read more

Being In a Place. Rediscovering Margaret Tait