My name is Yujiro Seki, and over the course of the past several years, I singlehandedly planned, shot, and edited a feature-length documentary, called Carving the Divine - Buddhist Sculptors of Japan. It took me about 6 years to complete the production and post-production. It took another 4 years of film festivals and social media promotion. Finally, I won the Best Director of a Foreign Language Documentary award at the Milan International Filmmaker Festival and premiered at the famous Raindance Film Festival in London. Carving the Divine has become the official selection for 30 film festivals, showing in a total of 22 countries, and has won awards at 13 festivals worldwide! Now I’m ready to make it public. Now, it’s time to distribute the film. I'd like to make Carving the Divine available to the public as soon as possible. Yes, we are raising distribution funds! I invite you to be a part of our journey to spread this incredible 1400-year-old Busshi tradition to the world.
The stakes are high for these young artists: the daily (and nightly) demands of a lifelong commitment to mastery prove too much for most apprentices to bear. But for those devoted enough to fulfill their duties to the guild and to themselves as Busshi, there’s the promise of contributing to collective works of awe-inspiring beauty and power. And even more importantly, there’s the promise of leading their millennium-old tradition into the future.
Living among these Busshi for the years necessary to document them transforming blocks of wood into incredible sculptures, I was not only able to gain access into the secretive world of some of Japan’s foremost masters, nor was I simply able to capture a world of Buddhist rituals normally off-limits to all but monks and priests. My proudest achievement in Carving the Divine is that I believe the finished film does a good job of showing how these two traditions – Mahayana Buddhism and the art of the Busshi - both sculpt and are sculpted by Japan itself, and how the struggles of today’s Busshi reflect the historical struggles of the Japanese People – to “persevere,” as we Japanese so often say.
I had the rare opportunity to follow a guild of Buddhist sculptors from the studio of Busshi, Koun Seki. Master Seki is a pioneer in preserving and advancing the art of Busshi: He’s not only taken many apprentices under his wing; he’s also established a school for the Japanese public to learn the craft.
Lastly, I was granted rare access into the life and rites of Buddhist priests, and especially those of Shingon, or “True Word” Buddhism. When I explained the import of the film, these priests granted me the honor and privilege of filming from within their altar area, a secretive space within temples that’s usually off limits to anyone outside the priestly class.
Music of Carving the Divine
The special film requires special music. Unlike many independent documentaries which use pre-made library music, we invited a renowned film composer to make special custom scores for Carving the Divine. Nicolas Pike is an Emmy Award-winning Hollywood composer (http://www.nicholaspike.net/bio.html) whose works range from Michael Jackson's Ghost and You Rock My World, to Will Smith's Wild Wild West. For Carving the Divine, we could not just throw any music for the mood. The music has to be superbly well executed so that it will support and enhance the film, not ruin it. We tried out many composers but none of them had what it takes to compose “the right music” for Carving the Divine. For this subject matter, one bad piece of music could ruin the entire film. So we had to find a very special person and we finally did! Nicolas Pike executed the job beautifully. I look forward to showcasing the exquisite symphony of music and film with our audience.
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Why do we need your support and why would you like to support us?
In a nutshell: Carving the Divine is raising the distribution/marketing funds. All contributions will go strictly toward the distribution process and marketing of the film. With the proper funding under our belt, finally, we can officially start distributing the film so that the world can see this incredible 1400-year-old Busshi tradition.
Details: Carving the Divine is a rare film project that has not relied on any governmental/institutional funding. In other words, with the exception of a single crowdfunding campaign, the project is entirely funded by Director and Producer Yujiro Seki himself. Even after the film was completed, he diligently learned digital-marketing and social media to promote the film, the subject matter of the film, the millennium old ancient Japanese Buddhist sculptural art, and the concept of spirituality that goes beyond. With his talented and experienced collaborators, Yujiro has created an educational blog series: Butsuzōtion:(https://www.carvingthedivine.com/blog) and YouTube/Podcast program Carving the Divine TV, a series of Q&A sessions with Buddhist scholars and practitioners about the basic concepts of Buddhism and the history of Buddhism: (https://www.youtube.com/c/carvingthedivine).
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Yujiro has contributed his creation of the easy-to-understand, digestible educational platforms for anyone to understand this traditionally rather complicated and esoteric subject matter that is historically only understood by accomplished academic scholars and seasoned Buddhist practitioners. Best of all, all the information is available free of charge. The documentary Carving the Divine and Yujiro’s educational platforms are not corrupted by ulterior motive or propaganda of any government or institution because the film is not funded by them! In other words, the intention of Yujiro is pure and clear: he wants tell the authentic true story of Busshi and provide educational information for these who would like to learn more about this subject matter. That’s what he gave his life to.
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However, here comes the final major obstacle for Yujiro and Carving the Divine. After going through production, post-production, social media network building, film festivals (through burning up his life savings, petitioning his friends and family for help, selling his film equipment… and so on… Yes, he has done everything! ) Yujiro has virtually no money left for the proper distribution of Carving the Divine. Yujiro has a dedicated group of audience who has been waiting for years for the film to come out, and their patience is running thin. He intends to deliver Carving the Divine to as many people as possible through his massive social media network, namely Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
However, to do so he needs to raise marketing funds. To truly activate the Yuji machine to its full potential to reach the maximum number of people possible, so that the world can see this incredible 1400-year-old Busshi tradition, we have money to raise. We would like to deliver the product that is free from ulterior motives of studios, institutions, and governments. In this way, we will deliver the true independent cinema without compromise!
The stakes are high because we must raise as much funding as possible (Ideal goal: $50,000) to reach the maximum possible amount of people, but to get this whole process started we must raise AT LEAST $10,000. If we fail to do so, Carving the Divine will be only available on small screening events and stored in my hard drive until further notice.
Yes, we need your support! Please make a donation today!
TO MAKE A DONATION:
Click on the Red “SEE OPTIONS” button at the top of the page and enter any amount here.
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The Perks of Donating Carving the Divine:
First of all, if you are kind enough to donate $30 or more, after this crowdfunding campaign you will get a 2-week access to the special link and password of Carving the Divine for you to enjoy. Yes, as a supporter, you will get to see the film before the official release!
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But wait a minute…. I’m throwing in another special perk on top of the viewing of the entire film! For everyone willing to make a $50 or more donation and who wants to watch more of Busshi tradition, I’m also adding in a special 2-week access link and password to 6 scenes that didn’t make it to the final cut of the film. These scenes stand alone as an excellent insight into Busshi life but had to be deleted. But again, anyone who donates more than $50 automatically gets access to these truly special scenes, in addition to the whole film. To be honest with you, I have no idea if I will ever release these special scenes even after the film is officially released. So, if you would like to watch them, please make sure to make at least a $50 contribution.
Special Deleted Scenes:
Master Saito and Seki Drinking Scene - Devoting to the life of Busshi
This is one of the deleted scenes of Master Saito. This gives an interesting insight into the time when Saito was an apprentice. Also, we will learn more about the time Master Seki was an apprentice.
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Shingon Buddhism Goma Ritual
This is a special scene of Shingon Goma ritual filmed from within their altar area, a secretive space. The Goma Ritual of consecrated fire is unique to Esoteric Buddhism.
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Exclusive Sneak Preview Interviews with Busshi-to-be (Japanese Buddhist woodcarving apprentices)
Apprentice Interviews could not make it to the Final Cut because I believe showing actions tells a lot more than their formal interviews. Nevertheless, the interviews give you good background information on why they decided to pursue the art of Busshi.
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Byakui Kannon - Buddhist Sculptures beyond academic study
The story behind the Byakui Kannon (Referred to as Surrogate Kannon in the scene) could not make it to the final cut. But, you will learn how an ordinary temple of Japan assigns the meaning of statues beyond the meaning of scholarship.
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Why Smiling Enma? - A Dialogue with Chief Priest, Nakajima
There is a deleted scene of the Enma Episode. Here, the Chief Priest tells details on why he is so passionate about making a smiling Enma. Unfortunately, this scene couldn't make it to the final cut, but this is another interesting insight into the story behind the smiling Enma.
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The Woodcarving Society of Japan Opening Ceremony
Master Seki established the Woodcarving Society of Japan to rejuvenate the Japanese woodcarving industry. His goal is to protect and preserve the future generation of Japanese woodcarvers. This is the opening ceremony of this organization
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Another New Apprentice - The Story of Jozaki
The initiation interview of the new apprentice Jozaki and his welcome party were deleted because they couldn't fit anywhere in the story. But, you will learn the story of another apprentice who decided to devote his life to the art of busshi.
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If you really want to make a difference in supporting Carving the Divine so that we can reach our funding goal, we have created a special category of perk in this level called “Online Film + Deleted Scenes G” … What is the G? The G stands for GENEROUS. If you feel generous and believe in Carving the Divine, PLEASE CONTRIBUTE $100 TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. This perk is exactly the same as the $50 2 week-access to the special link and password of Carving the Divine and special deleted scenes. But you put extra so that we can reach our goal! Again, any extra contribution will make a big difference. Please consider putting extra. Carving the Divine is not just a film. It’s a film with a mission… to spread this beautiful 1400-year-old Japanese Buddhist art tradition out into the world.
Secondly, if you donate $120 (Worldwide Shipping Included), you can claim an original Carving the Divine T-shirt! We have produced only limited numbers of T-shirts, so hurry while the supply lasts.
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Original T-shirt
$120 USD (Worldwide Shipping Included)
Thirdly, with a $200 donation, you can have a one-hour consultation with the director, Yujiro Seki, and ask him about anything related to Carving the Divine as well as your own project, production, post-production, social media promotion, and film festival strategies.
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One-hour Zoom consultation with Yujiro Seki
$200 USD
And last but not least, if you are short on cash but would like to claim a perk, with a $10 donation, you will get a social media shout-out on the infamous Carving the Divine Facebook.
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Of course, donating to Carving the Divine without claiming any perk is always welcome!
TO MAKE A DONATION WITHOUT PERKS:
Click on the Red “SEE OPTIONS” button on the top of the page and enter any amount here.
OTHER WAYS YOU CAN HELP:
Please support us by sharing the news about our film and the campaign with your friends and family. Email the link to this campaign to your friends and family:
Check out our official site: https://www.carvingthedivine.com/
Subscribe to our email list: https://emaillist.carvingthedivine.com/p/cecb0e...
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarvingTheDivine/
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carvingthedivine/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CarvingDivine
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/carvingthedivine
Thank you so much for your support! Together, let’s share with the world this documentary about the spiritual ancient art that truly matters!
