Forest of Bliss

The documentary was shot in the city of Benares in India. The city is held sacred, and the rites of death are inside daily life there. The film follows the span from one sunrise to the next. There is no commentary, no subtitles and no dialogue. The images and the sounds stand on their own. Among what is watched are the riverbank, the burning grounds, the flower sellers and the life of the streets. The work tries to bring the viewer nearer to being present than to being told. Grief and ordinary work stand inside the same frame. Robert Gardner’s American documentary, eighty nine minutes long, was completed in 1986.