Official Competition 2018

The Unknown Craftsman

Amit Dutta I 2018 I 89'

SYNOPSIS

Towards the end of the eighth century, an architect journeys across the lower Himalayas in search of the perfect site for constructing a temple, not merely as a place of worship but as a monumental record crystallizing the collective accomplishment of a civilization. Is he equal to the task? He faces his own fears and the forces of nature test his learning along the path.

BIOGRAPHY

Amit Dutta

AMIT DUTTA (India, 1977) is a screenwriter and film director whose films oscillate between Indian mythology and a personal symbolism with a very unique pictorial language. Since his early work he has been recognised as one of the leading experimental filmmakers in the subcontinent and his films have been screened and awarded at festivals and museums around the world, including Venice, Rotterdam and Oberhausen.

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Critical text

S. VIII. An anonymous architect goes in search of the perfect site to build a temple at the foot of the Himalayas. This temple will not only be the place to host worship but it will also aspire to become an architectonic manifestation of the greatness of human thinking. The unknown architect embarks on a spiritual quest, riddled with doubts, obstacles, traps and fears. Immersed in a scenery of overwhelming beauty, he wants to learn how to harmonise technique and spirit, perhaps one of the greatest mysteries of creativity. The Indian filmmaker Amit Dutta accompanies his character in his attempt to reach once more the root of the enigma, the place where art dwells. Lastly, the temple will remain unfinished and perhaps it is here where the film embraces the philosophical approaches on the Imperfect Art of Yanagi Sōetsu, whose book The Unknown Craftsman gives name to the film. NURIA CUBAS

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