BTSD Screening, Sunday, September 24, 2023
Congratulations to Yujiro Seki on completing Carving the Divine. The final version is now completed, the director says.
The film documents the centuries old Japanese tradition of carving Buddhist images as it exists today. A number of Temple members are following the progress of the film and have made donations of support to the director to see it to completion. Wider distribution is planned over the next 12 months.
Available Now to Stream
Carving the Divine is now available to stream online for a fee. Learn more about streaming options (currently for 48 hours or open-ended, at different price points) at
Complete information on the documentary — including its growing number of awards and festival appearances — can be seen at the Carving the Divine website.
Wider Distribution to Come
While the journey of bringing out the documentary to the public has been a long one, the next stage of the process includes publicizing through upcoming film festivals and business arrangements for distribution. Our opportunity to see the film, together as a Sangha, is coming up later this year.
Buddhist Temple of San Diego’s Movie Afternoon
We will be showing Carving the Divine following Sunday Service on September 24, 2023, as a Family Movie Afternoon. Inexpensive food items will be available for sale. Carving the Divine is an interesting, family friendly film, explaining an ancient tradition in the modern world. More details will be forthcoming by late summer. There will be a nominal charge for attending. all or portions of which will go the director to fund its wider distribution. Please note that our ability to display the film via livestream is by special arrangement with the director, for which we are grateful. Several Temple members were able to meet with him for lunch in March to conclude the arrangements.
Appearance of Director Yujiro Seki by Zoom
At the completion of the special showing on September 24, we hope to have a Q&A session with the director himself, live from Japan via Zoom.
Festivals and Awards
Carving the Divine has become the official selection for 30 film festivals, showing [in] a total of 22 countries, and won the awards at 13 festivals worldwide, such as winning the Best Director Award of a Foreign Language Documentary at World Cinema Milan and premiering at the famous Raindance Film Festival in London.
Source: Carving the Divine website 4/12/23.