Behind the relatively recent international headlines about Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban are the many more stories of everyday people who have lived the past 20 years of their lives amidst war and violence in Afghanistan. They have lost their homes, their friends, their family members, and even their icons. In 2001, flouting international outcry and criticism, the Taliban destroyed the country’s famous stone Buddhas, the world’s largest stone statues. The Boy Who Plays on the Buddhas of Bamiyan is an exquisitely shot tale of an eight-year-old boy, Mir, his family, and the hundreds of other refugees who lives their lives amongst the ruin and rubble of the Buddhas. Shot over the course of one year in the life of these refugees, it is an inspiring and intimate portrait of hope amidst despair, life in the wake of death, and the individual stories behind sensationalized newspaper headlines.  JJ