October 31, 2013 Ann Kreilkamp
And see this.
Yesterday morning, on our walk, we passed by the house above, which sported a Dead and Breakfast sign surrounded by a particularly “scary” set of inflatables. If you look at the tall black figure on the right, you’ll see that by its side (at the bottom of the tree) is a black tiger with bright eyes. Well, that tiger’s head moved — from left to right and back again, every few seconds. The effect was decidedly eerie and menacing. Puppy Shadow? Well, for the first time ever, he whimpered. He actually whimpered as we walked by.
“Scared and sacred are spelled with the same letters. Awful proceeds from the same root word as awesome. Terrify and terrific. Every negative experience holds the seed of transformation.” — Alan Cohen
A few years ago, a filmmaker traveled the world, seeking to document places where “scared” turns into “sacred.”
In a world teetering on the edge of self-destruction, award-winning filmmaker Velcrow Ripper sets out on a unique pilgrimage. Visiting the ‘Ground Zeros’ of the planet, he asks if it’s possible to find hope in the darkest moments of human history.
Ripper travels to the minefields of Cambodia; war-torn Afghanistan; the toxic wasteland of Bhopal; post-9/11 New York; Bosnia; Hiroshima; Israel and Palestine. This powerful documentary captures his five-year odyssey to discover if humanity can transform the ‘scared’ into the ‘sacred’.
Deep in the jungles of Cambodia, Ripper meets Aki Ra, a child soldier forced to lay landmines for the Khmer Rouge. Today Aki wanders his ravaged country with a simple wooden stick, decommissioning thousands of mines each year. In the shattered land of Afghanistan, Ripper searches for a Sufi musician who was banned from performing or evenlistening to music, by the reign of fundamentalism. The musician discovered a way out: he filled his house with songbirds. In each Ground Zero, he unearths unforgettable stories of survival, of ritual, resilience and recovery.
ScaredSacred deftly weaves together stunning footage with haunting memories,inspirational stories, and an evocative soundscape. Featuring an engaging, first-person narrative, this film is an exquisite portrait of a search for meaning in times of turmoil, a luminous gift to a world in shadows.
Running time: 105 min.
What’s “scary” is standing upon the threshold — between worlds, dimensions, states of consciousness. Why? Let us realize that they’re all real, all true, all wondrous, magical transformations of the everlasting now. It’s that awareness, which I identify as sacred. — A.K.
