| |
Buried
Land
a Faction Film
Directed by: Steven
Eastwood & Geoffrey Alan
Rhodes
contact@BuriedLand.com
In 2006 CNN announced to the world the discovery of the largest and potentially
oldest pyramid in the world. This was not in Egypt but Visoko, in central
Bosnia. If the discovery turned out to be true it would change the way
we understand history. And even if it wasn't, the mere idea of pyramids
in Bosnia could change the fortunes of a small town struggling to recover
from a decade of war.
For 1000s of years the locals noted the pyramidal shape of the great
hill overlooking the town, but not with any thought it was real,
until archaeologist Semir Osmanagich,
the self-proclaimed "Indiana Jones of Bosnia," revealed its existence.
He claims that Visoko is in fact a valley comprising four pyramids, a temple,
and a network of pre-historic tunnels stretching 2.5 kilometres underground.
Visoko has become a Brigadoon, embracing the pyramid theory with
gusto, transforming itself economically through new enterprise.
The town now has an archaeological
park and a burgeoning tourist agency based on the pyramids. To date some
50,000 tourists have visited the town and Pyramid sites. The
Hotel Hollywood has been
renamed The Pyramid of the Sun Hotel. Behind the Mayor's desk is a picture
of a sphinx. You can eat Pyramid Pizzas in an Aztec styled restaurant. What
more
do you want from a pyramid?
Semir Osmanagich, an outsider to the archaeological establishment,
is now the director of The Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun Foundation.
A Bosnian, he
divides
his time between Sarajevo, Visoko and Houston, Texas. He has published
books on the Mayan civilizations and now proposes a new academic
discipline: Bosniology.
His Foundation just announced a sixth pyramid. In 2003 a similar discovery
of a smaller set of a pyramids was made in Tenerife. Little wonder Egyptologists
recently started patenting the Pyramid shape itself.
Buried Land enters the world of Visoko and "belief archaeology". Underneath
the surface there are divisions but to the outside world the town is living a
united Pyramid dream, and for once it has a future – selling the dream
to tourists from around the world. Buried Land probes the town's people for their
versions of events and creates a visual environment where it is not certain where
reality ends and fantastical 'buried lands' begin.
Any efforts to represent the pyramids fall short of the phenomena.
The standard fact-finding format of TV news has failed to capture
this faith-based
narrative.
The real story has yet to be told, not of the pyramids, but of Visoko,
an ordinary town reinventing itself around an extraordinary set of
events. Narratives
retraced
by key characters in the town will tell the stories of the small and
large players in the events, using fantastical film elements to present
their
imaginations. Characters include 'Zombi', the stone faced site digger
possessed with religious
fervour, who says that the Pyramid is his heart; Avdija who at twenty-two
runs the Respect Tourist agency, although many of her friends tease
her for her
unreserved
belief in the Pyramids; the ex-miners who work the tunnels; the farmer
living on top of the Pyramid of the Moon half of which is still filled
with Serbian
mines from the war; the Romany children who act as guides for the tourists,
not to mention the various pyramid hunters and unofficial Egyptologists
who regularly
arrive in town. Then there is Osmanagich. Is the emperor indeed without
clothes?
Our counterpart to Osmanagich is the production fixer for Buried
Land, Emir Stare, a cynic from Sarajevo who, like so many Bosnians,
has numerous
jobs,
and sometimes
works as an actor. He acts as translator and guide. Emir has been
sent ahead to prepare the way for the film of the pyramids, and
will begin
making scale
models, and testing out sets. These renderings will enable the viewer
to see mental images of the pyramids manifested: models, spectacular
scenic
matte
paintings, key lighting, and sites built according to the imaginations
of those who live
there. But we will learn that Emir is out of his depth. His encounter
with a Bosnia that seems insane to him prizes open the emotional
stories and
epic visions
of the town. He may even become caught up in the myth.
These stories, of discovery and dispute, of prosperity and intrigue,
have tremendous entertainment value and point to the key themes
and events: that activities
based on these visionary ideas are fragile, and yet have the power
to inspire
and draw
together a community. Visoko is astounding in its ability to create
a new history after the war that tore them apart. 15 years after
a genocide
fought
between
Musilims, Catholics, and Orthodox, they now live side by side and
dream of the history that preceded them all. Western archeologists,
UNESCO,
and some
members
of the Bosnian Ministry of Culture have attacked the digs, and
tried to stop them. But the Visoko community has proven resilient
and media
savvy;
they
are not only fighting for their livlihood, but their community's
identity.
This is an examination of power and survival through belief, of
how truth has many sides, and of how Visoko, rising from the
ashes of
a traumatic
past, reflects
changing attitudes and strategies in the post-war Balkan region,
and a refreshing representation of a tolerant Islamic culture.
Stop a person
on the street
and ask whether they believe the Pyramid is real, the reply will
commonly be, "Maybe
yes, maybe no. It depends who is asking." What emerges is the story of passionate
hope and visionary imagination. Buried Land is about how and why we believe.
What is under the hill – history or hope? It may not be a pyramid as we
know it, but something is there…
A Faction Film in association with Paradogs and GARhodes
www.BuriedLand.com
|
|