The Giant Buddhas

"The Taliban were happy. They had destroyed something that could never be rebuilt. It was gone forever," says Taysir Alony, an Al Jazeera TV reporter and one of the few foreigners to witness, and the only one to film, the destruction of the 1500 year–old monumental Buddha statues in Bamiyan, Afghanistan, by the Taliban in February 2001. The action was condemned throughout the world. Alony supplies one of six intriguing voices in the new documentary by Christian Frei, author of the Oscar–nominated 'War Photographer' (2001).

Combining several narrative lines, Frei's beautifully crafted film uses the Bamiyan statues as a starting point on a fascinating journey exploring the boundaries between spirituality and religious fanaticism, the ancient and the modern and the local and the global. Frei weaves together a colourful and moving tapestry that ultimately reflects the Buddhist saying: "Everything changes, nothing is permanent". With some excellent photography by Peter Indergand, this monumental, yet quietly contemplative – and at times very funny – film is as much a quest for questions, as a search for answers.

The partner of the screening is International human rights film festival One World.