Filmmaker Paul Davids On His Documentary Jesus In India

Interview with Paul Davids On His Documentary Jesus In India

Could you give us a bit of history on the documentary Jesus in India?

Paul Davids: I prefer to make films on controversial topics, pushing the envelope in ways that are sure to make people think and examine their assumptions and beliefs. Associate producer Robert Rotstan, Jr., introduced me to a book by Edward T. Martin, a Texan who was raised as a fundamentalist Christian but who stumbled over the dilemma of the missing years of Jesus that are not discussed in the New Testament. A trail of reported evidence led him to believe Jesus had spent years in India, which it turns out is a prevalent belief among Hindus (and some Buddhists) in India. I had also been intrigued by the writings of Paramahansa Yogananda, specifically AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A YOGI. In some of his works, Yogananda claims that Christ was in India part of his life.

When it became clear to me that several explorers of high reputation had reported seeing an ancient manuscript about Jesus in India at the Hemis Monastery in Ladakh, India, high in the Himalayas, I felt there was the making of a strong story. This was especially true because Edward T. Martin had become an outcast in his church for his beliefs about Jesus in India, and all of my films up to that point had been about gifted or unusual men who had become outcasts, including ballet artist Nijinsky, Roswell witness Major Jesse Marcel, “acid guru” Timothy Leary, Vincent van Gogh, a shaman in Sedona named Rahelio, and even science-fiction pioneers Forrest J Ackerman and Ray Bradbury, who were considered weird in the 1930’s because they seriously believed man would set foot on the moon in their lifetimes. Therefore, I went with Ed Martin to India, traversing 4,000 miles in search of evidence about Jesus in India, and it became the feature documentary “JESUS IN INDIA” which was shown repeatedly on the Sundance Channel and then played around the world on cable TV, thanks to Universal International Television.

I am very proud of this film, which I think accomplished things that have never been done before, including bringing together an important group of religious leaders in one film. Unfortunately, the Religion reviewer for the Wall Street Journal called the film “A Cavalcade of Crackpots” (was she including the Dalai Lama and Princeton Professor Elaine Pagels who were both in the film – or the professors of Georgetown and Loyal University, or the Apostelic Nuncio of John Paul II?) But upon reflection, it’s a very curious remark because in fact all of my films are “a cavalcade of crackpots” from an establishment point of view. That’s what I do as a filmmaker – I highlight the “underdog,” the so-called “crackpot” rejected by society, who has a message I think worthy of our attention. The establishment often misses the boat about such people but then catches up decades later or centuries later. Jesus himself would be one example. Look at the Catholic church and Galileo as another example. Consider Vincent van Gogh as yet another example… scorned and rejected in his own day, unable to sell but one painting, today the commercial worth of his paintings probably exceeds two billion dollars.

What is some of the proof evidence wise that Jesus actually visited India?

Paul Davids: Proof is too strong a word.  CONTINUED…

For the rest of this interview you most assuredly need to visit the following link to find out Paul Davids answer regarding proof of Jesus in India

http://churchofmabusradio.com/1006/uncategorized/interview-w-filmmaker-paul-davids-on-his-documentary-jesus-in-india/