Safarnoma: Notes on a Heritage Path

Shot during the Spring of 2019 in the Shahrituz, Kabadian, Dusti, Nosiri Khisraw, Bokhtar and Hisar districts of Tajikistan, ‘Safarnoma: notes on a heritage path’ is an observational film that becomes a meditation on the sources of Tajik spiritual culture. By listening to folk stories told by ordinary people who live in the neighborhood of pre-Islamic architectural monuments, we witness their relationship to these heritage sites that continue to serve as points of pilgrimage. The film’s soundtrack is constructed from ‘Rost’ and ‘Navo’, two melodic modes of Tajik classical music known as ‘Shashmaqom’ that are in metaphorically associated with the concept of a journey.