Original subtitles

I am not a Christian,

not a Muslim,

not a Buddhist,

not a Zoroastrian,

not a Jew,

nor a Baha'i.

I am an agnostic film-maker.

I am here today with my son

to make a movie about a religion,

the Baha'i Faith.

This religion was born 170 years ago in Iran.

Today, hundreds of thousands of Baha'is live in Iran.

And because they are Baha'is,

they are put in prison, executed,

tortured and banned from universities.

Just because they are Baha'is.

And many people still don't know

what it is about Baha'i thought

that has brought 170 years of punishment onto them.

Perhaps our not knowing has contributed to the cruelties

committed against the Baha'is.

We have come to this garden, the center of this faith,

to become familiar with it.

To present the subject from two angles,

my camera will try to find its negative points,

and my father, through his camera, will look at its positive aspects.

This is the city of Haifa, in northern Israel.

This is the Shrine of the Báb,

the one who foretold the coming of Baha'i Faith.

If we'd brought a professional actor who knew about cinema,

instead of this gardener,

for example, a person like...

Brad Pitt, George Clooney, or Sean Penn,

then your film would be more popular

and it would be seen all over the world.

You'd also not waste so much tape.

- Do you have a pen? - Yes.

Thank you.

What I have in mind is a human being.

Cinema wants to show people...

...and their real stories.

I don't need any actors.

The first person who walks past the camera,

if looked at deeply,

they'll have a story to tell which will be suitable for the next film.

Cinema wasn't always as it is now. It was originally about real life.

Gradually, it transformed into an industry

that mass-produces Coke and McDonald's.

I need a real person to concentrate on.

I want to develop my perception through concentration.

I want to learn to see better.

Cinema is the extension...

...of one's eye, not the extension of one's glasses.

Better tools are like better glasses.

What really needs to be improved is one's perception.

But if technology didn't exist,

I wouldn't have been able to take this picture.

If what is important is just one's perception...

...then why make films?

Think only about one thing.

Don't try to capture a series of shots, one after the other,

as if you're changing channels with a remote control.

Try to become aware of what goes on in your mind.

OK, ten seconds, that's enough.

One gets bored.

If I showed the footage of this gardener to my friends

with such a slow rhythm... what would they say?

Twenty tapes have been wasted, ...to show what?

But he's not only gardening.

See, in a way, he's praying.

It's a kind of a meditation.

He's educating himself to be like a gardener to society.

How can you not distinguish between a religion

that invites its followers to be like gardeners and flowers...?

I can't hear your voice.

Count to three, so I can test the microphone.

One, two, three, with much respect for technology.

I'm leaving.

I'm out of here!

Why are you filming him so much?

I've found a good subject for you over there.

Hurry up, or we'll lose him.

You go ahead. I want to work on this character.

Come with me!

Here, I brought you some tea.

Thank you.

It's really hot.

- Didn't it burn your hand? - I'm fine.

Did you get any good shots?

I took a few shots...

...a girl who was teaching some children.

I was filming the gardener.

He's saying some interesting things.

The Baha'i faith started as a new religion

about 170 years ago in Iran.

It contains all the good things found in Buddhism and Christianity.

And it includes ideas promoted by people like Gandhi and Mandela.

It started 170 years ago,

and it doesn't contradict any of today's human rights principles.

Although there are hundreds of thousands of Baha'is in Iran,

due to censorship, not many know about its teachings.

Just think about it, if we had a peaceful religion,

Iran would be a more peaceful country

and wouldn't be pursuing a nuclear weapon program.

And we'd have a higher morality.

But if Baha'is had come to power,

maybe they would've persecuted others for their beliefs.

While in Paris, Khomaini spoke of freedom.

Once in Iran, he put people in prison.

Didn't Christ talk about love and kindness?

And then what did the Church do in the Middle Ages?

Anyway, what do freedom, peace and kindness have to do with religion?

These all depend on culture.

What's that? Has war started?

It's possible.

The basis for war has its roots in religion.

You fail to recognize the power of religion,

because you've only seen its negative effects.

If someone is burnt by fire,

would you close all oil wells?

You have to realize that

in the same way that you update your cameras.

Religion, too, should've been updated.

You believe that religion has huge destructive power.

Why not use its power to bring about peace?

Look, you made me step on this flower.

I'll have to ask for forgiveness from this flower.

What is the problem with not having a religion?

Who fights more, those with religion or those without?

Where you see war in this world,

you find Muslims, Jews, Christians involved.

They're either at war with one another,

or anxious about the possibility of it.

I don't think there is a need for religion in this modern world.

Are you asleep, Dad?

I'm convinced that organized religions are the source of hatred in this world.

What did Al-Qaida do?

It turned religion into an engine for terrorism.

What did the Taliban do?

They took children into religious schools

and taught them how to become suicide bombers.

- Did you say something to me? - No, just thinking out loud.

If religion can educate innocent children in such a way

that they're prepared to kill and die,

then it proves that religion has power.

Why not use the power of religion

for the promotion of peace and friendship.

It's futile to drop bombs from the sky to combat violence.

Are you asleep, Dad?

Are you asleep, Dad?

What were you doing?

Where's your gardener?

The gardener was sleeping, as well.

Where is he?

You've put your camera on the ground.

Eona, where are you?

Baha'u'llah was imprisoned in Iran.

He went into exile from Iran,

and then, while an exile, was imprisoned once more.

For Bahá'u'lláh and his family,

most of their lives were spent either in prison or in exile.

It was in the prison that he lost one of his sons.

When, after many years, he was released,

he was visited by Edward Browne, the renowned Orientalist, to whom he said:

"Thou has come to see a prisoner and an exile.

"We desire nothing but the good of the world and the happiness of nations.

"Yet they deem us fomenters of strife and sedition,

"worthy of bondage and banishment."

What are you doing, Dad?

Are you making a religious film?

You came to talk about human rights,

to say that people have the right to choose or change their religion.

This film isn't about human rights. It's about promoting religion.

Cut! Cut!

Dad, I'm serious.

Religions begin with peace and end with violence.

They begin with the emancipation of women

and end up enslaving them.

You're using technology to serve superstition.

You too cut, my son!

You too are turning technology into a new religion.

From Steve Jobs, you're creating a Moses, Jesus or Muhammad.

Was it not technology that led to the nuclear destruction of Hiroshima?

Isn't it technology that's destroying the environment?

Your generation has little patience.

I'm not going along with this.

I'm going into town while you make this film.

I'm not making a film to promote a religion.

I'm investigating a faith for which many have died.

Many people are still in prison for their belief in this religion.

Its followers have never used violence.

I want to understand how this religion

has been able to raise a group of peaceful people.

I'm investigating to see how much of the violence in this world

can actually be attributed to religion?

This is Jerusalem, the sacred city.

The center of three major religions:

Islam, Christianity, and Judaism.

What is religion?

A collective spirit? A series of practices? Traditions and accessories?

For example, the rosary. Most religions have a rosary.

Nearby every religion, a traditional bazaar can always be found.

This bazaar reminds me of Shah Abd'ul-Azim Bazaar in Iran.

Pictures of saints for sale.

And angels with Rembrandt-style lighting.

These are Israeli soldiers.

This is where Christ ascended to heaven.

His body was washed on this stone.

People are bringing their clothes here to bless them.

Muslims do the same thing in Iran.

Their faith in Muhammad is as strong as these people's faith in Christ.

Communal singing stirs up religious feeling in me,

but I have to control myself so that I'm not deceived by it.

Architecture in all religions is similar:

high ceilings to make people feel small in large spaces.

Candles.

The use of light and dark.

Such strange sounds and strange smells...

...that make one leave reality and enter the metaphysical world.

Human beings have existed on earth for more than a million years.

Why was God quiet during all these years?

And why did he only begin to send prophets 3,000 years ago?

Even then, three major religions

were connected to each other by the same streets.

That was the center of Christianity.

In less than a one-minute walk, almost just an alley away,

is the center of Islam and Judaism.

This is the Al-Aqsa Mosque,

the original Qiblih of the Muslims,

and the place where Muhammad is said to have risen to heaven.

Not even one street away, but right there, connected to it,

is the Western Wall, like a neighbor.

There, the most important site in the world for the Jewish people.

Wasn't there enough space in the world

that God brought the centers of two major religions so close?

Didn't he know that his believers would not make good neighbors?

I have to wear a cap to visit the Western Wall.

Muslims say that this place belongs to them,

because their prophet rose to heaven from here.

Jews say that this place belongs to them,

because the Western Wall is here.

By the way, if Iran were to create a nuclear weapon

and directed it at the Western Wall,

then what would happen to their own Al-Aqsa mosque?

Dad!

Dad?

Dad?

Have you become a Baha'i, Dad?

No.

Then what?

I am a Christian,

I am a Muslim,

I am a Buddhist,

I am a Jew,

I am a Zoroastrian,

I am irreligious.

All of these.

Where's your camera?

I planted it so that it would flower.

Let me give it some water.

- Are you alright? - Fine, thanks. How about you?

Why did you get your camera wet?

Ah...