French filmmaker Chris Marker’s landmark film of 1962, La Jetée, is a photo-roman — it plays out as a series of still images. And the story is told through voice over narration:
‘This is the story of a man marked by an image from his childhood.’ A memory has haunted the hero of the tale since his childhood — the image of a woman and that of the killing of a man, at the jetty of the airport Orly in Paris. There is the timeless theme of star-crossed lovers, against the backdrop of an underground camp in a world completely…
Stanley Kubrick’s science fiction film, 2001: A Space Odyssey is one of the most influential films ever made. Measured by the wealth of mythic, historic, and cultural references, Kubrick’s landmark film of 1968 can be compared to Pablo Picasso’s masterpiece painting of 1937, Guernica.
The film begins in the prehistoric period here on earth. It begins with a piece of classical music, Sunrise, the first section of Thus Spoke Zarathustra, composed by German musician Richard Strauss, based on Nietzsche’s philosophic novel — named after Persian prophet Zarathustra. In Nietzsche’s novel Zarathustra goes through many transformations and finally embraces eternity. It…
Around 4.5 billion years ago, the solar system was a cloud of primordial dust and gas. Gravity collapsed colossal amounts of material into its core and that began to spin, forming the sun in the center of the nebula. The planets, moons, and asteroids were formed when sun’s gravity pulled in the revolving dust and gas. And a family of planets — of which our earth is one — revolved around the sun. This is how geophysicists describe the origin of our solar system. …
Jalaluddin Rumi (1207–1273 CE), one of the greatest poets of classical Iran (Persia), was born in Balkh in the Northeastern Persian province of Khorasan, or present-day Afghanistan. In 1219 CE, his family migrated westward to flee Genghis Khan’s Mongol armies who had already conquered Northern China and were sweeping through Central Asia, heading west. The family went to Baghdad, where they learned about the destruction of Samarkand by the Mongols. They then moved on to Damascus (Syria). During his stay in Damascus, the young Jalaluddin was able to study with Spanish mystic philosopher, Ibn Arabi. He finally settled in Konya…
The legend has it that Jalaluddin Rumi developed an intense friendship with a man named Shams (“Sun” in Arabic) of Tabriz, a character whose place and date of birth are unknown, and whose life has been shrouded in layers of mystery. Shams has come to be known as an untutored charismatic mystic and a wandering Dervish possessed of miraculous powers.[1]
According to one legend, Shams arrived in Konya on a Tuesday morning, in November of 1244. Rumi was supposedly riding upon a donkey, when suddenly a wild mystic grabs the bridle of the donkey and asks: “Which was the greatest…
Foad Mir
Writer and film maker
