Bayon Temple State Controlled Center for Gold

My new short documentary film, Bayon Temple: State-Controlled Center for Gold.

Angkor was not built as a collection of symbolic monuments. It functioned as a system. Each major temple served a specific role within a larger landscape of water control, production, logistics, and authority. Some stabilized land and reservoirs. Others organized labor and supply. As value increased, the most sensitive functions moved inward.

This film examines Bayon as that inward node. Located at the center of Angkor Thom, its compact layout, restricted movement, and layered terraces suggest a space designed for oversight rather than procession. The bas-reliefs are read not as scenes of daily life, but as a map of custody showing the handling, washing, aggregation, accounting, and protection of gold at the stage where loss becomes unacceptable.

The iconic faces are approached not as devotional symbols, but as permanent state witnesses. Omnidirectional, calm, and repeated, they mark the space as observed. Gold becomes state gold only when it is seen, counted, and sanctioned.