In Chile's Atacama Desert, astronomers peer deep into the cosmos in search for answers concerning the origins of life. Nearby, a group of women sift through the sand searching for body parts of loved ones, dumped unceremoniously by Pinochet's regime.
Drawing on the testimonies of some fascinating interviewees, and filled with dazzling digital images of galaxies and landscapes, it’s a film that makes you ponder the mysteries of human existence anew.
A truly insightful art film that still manages to be easy-going and unpretentious.
It is deeply intelligent, intensely and painfully political, and yet attempts, and succeeds, somehow to transcend politics and perhaps even history itself.
Patricio Guzman's remarkable film is a meditation on the solar system, but also an exploration of his country's past.
The mixture of personal stories, political action, scientific investigation and the connections between them are skilfully captured in Nostalgia For The Light, a remarkably lyrical, strikingly beautiful documentary reflecting on memory, mortality and the inexorable passing of time.
Seriously remarkable.
This stunningly original, poetic yet unpretentious film shows just how creative and engaging documentaries can be.
Perhaps just a little too dry for a general audience, Nostalgia For The Light will be difficult viewing for those who experienced personal loss due to the Pinochet, but it has some powerful uplifting moments, most notably when former concentration camp inmates describe how looking at the stars enabled them to stay sane and to feel free.
This is a film of extraordinary beauty, in its desolate way as breathtaking as any BBC nature series.
Beautiful, painful, cerebral...This is a film to be seen, re-seen and pondered.
This is a marvellously intelligent work of historical feeling and cosmic enquiry.
The desert images are stunning, but its the human tales that prove to be the most breathtaking of all.
Extraordinary.
Patricio Guzman
Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee from Sunday August 12, 2012. More info: www.dca.org.uk
Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow from Friday July 20, 2012, until Sunday July 22, 2012. More info: http://www.glasgowfilm.org/theatre/
Edinburgh Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Wednesday August 8, 2012, until Thursday August 9, 2012. More info: www.filmhousecinema.com
Cameo, Edinburgh from Friday August 17, 2012, until Thursday August 30, 2012. More info: http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/