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Carving the Divine is a documentary film that offers a rare look into a 1400-year-old Buddhist woodcarving tradition and the practitioners struggling to preserve its legacy in a rapidly changing Japan. Determined to pass his craft down to future generations, Master Koun Seki, the former apprentice of renowned busshi (Buddhist sculptor) Kourin Saito, interviews a candidate applying to be his new apprentice. Quickly though, we discover this apprenticeship and the busshi’s life to be far less glamorous, and much more austere, than we (or the candidate) would’ve likely imagined.
Once Master Seki makes his selection, we’re taken on a trip through a guild culture unlike anything existing today in The West: from the growing pains of a novice apprentice; to the entire guild working together as one body to create breathtaking works of art; to the monkish practice of the famed Grand Master Saito himself, alone on his quest to “leave nothing but great works behind.”
What’s more, we’re granted unprecedented access into the secret rites of Shingon (True Word) Buddhism. And faced with the devastation of the Tōhoku Tsunami, we’re given profound insight into the busshi’s significance within the Japanese psyche, and the nature of human perseverance through suffering.
Carving the Divine has become the official selection for 30 film festivals, showing in a total of 22 countries, and won awards at 13 festivals worldwide, such as winning the Best Director Award of a Foreign Language Documentary at World Cinema Milan and premiering at the famous Raindance Film Festival in London.
98 minutes. Japanese with English subtitles. Produced, written, and directed by Yujiro Seki.
Free
More information: https://www.samuseum.org/events/event/film-carving-the-divine-buddhist-sculptors-of-japan/?year=2025&month=2&day=19&hour=0&minute=0&second=0
Become a Member: https://www.samuseum.org/join-and-give/memberships/become-a-member/
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