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The Venerable W.documentary

Le vénérable W.

2017

Barbet Schroeder

Documentary, Self: Ashin Wirathu

6.7

117

Documentary In Burma, the 'Venerable Wirathu' is a highly influential Buddhist monk. Meeting him amounts to traveling to the heart of everyday racism and observing how Islamophobia and hate speech lead to violence and destruction. Yet this is a country in which 90% of the population has adopted Buddhism as a faith: a religion based on a peaceful, tolerant and non-violent way of life.

	Media	Author	Review
		Jay Weissberg Variety	"A deeply disturbing look at Burmese Buddhist monk Ashin Wirathu (...) [Schroeder] relies on the expected talking heads, but supplements that with plenty of chilling amateur video"
		Jordan Mintzer The Hollywood Reporter	"Eye-opening (...) Schroeder has an unflinching way of capturing the propos and rationale of Wirathu without any filter whatsoever."
		Lee Marshall Screendaily	"'The Venerable W' is a fine, stirring documentary about ethnic cleansing in action"
		Glenn Kenny The New York Times	"Schroeder’s approach is calm, almost detached (...) this makes the bleakness of what he recounts (...) that much more resonant."
		Keith Watson Slant	"'The Venerable W.' demonstrates, Buddhism isn’t some magical inoculation against hatred. It, too, can be used to rationalize political violence and racist nationalism (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"
		Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"[It] argues that nationalism, ignorance, arrogance, dogmatic religion and fear are [evil's] constituent elements. This is a sombre, pessimistic but necessary film (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"

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