On the Road a Smiling Stone is a documentary report from an area where the smell of cultural history has barely faded, designed in the idiosyncratic way adopted by Henri Plaat; an approach which is especially visual.Plaat: ‘The thread linking my work is travelling, and the films which the journeys have furnished have a melancholy tone.’Beijing and Rome were the start and finish of the road system which stretched thousands of kilometres and which led via the Taklamakan Desert, the Pamir Mountains, Afghanistan, Persia, Syria and Turkey to Europe. This network of trading roads has been known as the Silk Route since the last century. Goods made their way along this road, but ideas were also exchanged, for instance religious and scientific ideas. Wars and conquests in Asia also caused a constant exchange of cultural identity.In this area, Henri Plaat went in search of material for a new film. Plaat: ‘In all my films I have been searching for places which have a special significance in my mind. Places reminiscent of their history thanks to decay. I am looking for the moment when this beauty fascinates me most.’
