A block of quartz. A supernova. A canoe. A railway sleeper. A pearl button. Something vast links them all. Master documentarian Guzmán casts a timeless enchantment with his latest work, taking the simplest of notions as its theme: Water. Ever since its arrival on the comets, water makes us who we are, covering our planet with life-giving oceans. From the driest place on earth in the Atacama desert, where astronomers search for celestial H2O, to the decimation of Patagonia’s first nation by white settlers, and Pinochet’s concentration camps, sound and image flow as one river along the tides of time and space. The Pearl Button has to be seen to be experienced: a mesmerising, spiritually resonant reminder to look ever closer at a world that is truly alive.
Berlinale 2015 Ecumenical Jury & Silver Bear Best Script
Philadelphia FF Jury Award Best Documentary Feature
Yamagata IDFF Mayor’s Prize
Cape Town:
Mon 6 6.45pm Labia1
Sun 12 8pm Labia1
Jozi:
Fri 10 6.45pm CN1 Rosebank