Directed by Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier, Edward Burtynsky
Canada • 2018 • 87 mins. • In English, Russian, Italian, German, Mandarin, Cantonese with subtitles
Previously collaborating on 2006’s Manufactured Landscapes— itself a monumental film about human impact—Baichwal, Burtynsky, and de Pencier now turn their focus to the buzzword of the moment: the anthropocene, or the age of human domination over the ecology, climate, and environment of the earth. Featuring voiceover by actress Alicia Vikander, this stunningly-shot wake-up-call details several global ecological catastrophes including rampant large-scale strip mining, luxury marble excavation, and endless trash dumps in order to sketch a picture of the destruction humanity has wrought on our planet. Though this sounds like a pure doom-and-gloom diagnosis, this devastatingly beautiful film offers us a chance to open our eyes and see things for exactly as they are—views which often go uncaptured, unreported, and unremarked upon.
Filmography: Manufactured Landscapes (2006)
Sponsored by Consulate General of Canada, Bulleit Frontier Whiskey, and Ketel One Vodka