France 2023, 77 min, No Dialogue, No Subtitles
At the edge of the desert lies an ocean. The people who live on this remote, windswept rocky beach in Chile forage for mineral-rich seaweed from the ocean floor, piling it into brown mounds on smooth rocks, and pick up industrial waste washed ashore or dumped there long ago. The scene unfolding before us could be taking place on another planet or in a post-apocalyptic reality. The filmmaker, an anthropologist, lived there alone, with no crew, for months, and crafted a film that offers a weird and wonderful workout for the mind. Foregoing traditional character development and voice-over narration, he captures the energy of the place through masterful and creative use of music and natural sound, to the point where one can almost touch the sounds of rust, the wind whistling between the rocks, and the seafoam on the ocean waves.
Previous Festivals: Locarno FF
