For his new film master director Patricio Guzmán, famed for his political documentaries (
THE BATTLE OF CHILE,
THE PINOCHET CASE), travels 10,000 feet above sea level to the driest place on earth, the Atacama Desert, where atop the mountains astronomers from all over the world gather to observe the stars. The sky is so translucent that it allows them to see right to the boundaries of the universe.
The Atacama is also a place where the harsh heat of the sun keeps human remains intact: those of Pre-Columbian mummies; 19th century explorers and miners; and the remains of political prisoners, “disappeared” by the Chilean army after the military coup of September, 1973.
So while astronomers examine the most distant and oldest galaxies, at the foot of the mountains, women, surviving relatives of the disappeared whose bodies were dumped here, search, even after twenty-five years, for the remains of their loved ones, to reclaim their families’ histories.
Melding the celestial quest of the astronomers and the earthly one of the women, NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT is a gorgeous, moving, and deeply personal odyssey.
"Stunningly beautiful. I don’t know how you can put more into a film, or make one that’s more deeply moving." —Stuart Klawans, The Nation
"Such a moving masterpiece... NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT is Guzmán's leap into a different sort of cinema: a philosophical treatise that is as stunning to the eye as it is disturbing to the brain... I was enthralled. So was the audience around me." —B. Ruby Rich, SF360
★★★★ "NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT may just be the most profound movie I have ever seen." —Peter Howell, Toronto Star
“NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT is not only Guzmán’s masterpiece; it is one of the most beautiful cinematographic efforts we have seen for a long time. Its complex canvas is woven with the greatest simplicity. For forty years, Patricio Guzman has had to struggle every inch of the way, with a vivid memory and intimate suffering to reach this work of cosmic serenity, of luminous intelligence, with a sensitivity that could melt stone. At such a level, the film becomes more than a film. An insane accolade to mankind, a stellar song for the dead, a life lesson. Silence and respect." —Juan Mandelbaum, Le Monde
★★★★ "The ideas in NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT are nearly as big as the Big Bang, but Guzmán’s wise and lovely film maintains a careful balance between matters both macro and micro." —Jason Anderson, Eye Weekly
"The film is gorgeous, purposefully slow, almost a meditation. Guzmán tells us life in the Atacama Desert is an eternal book of memories. And he lingers on every page, capturing shots of constellations with the care of a master photographer. Imagine Ansel Adams, working in colour, let loose in the Milky Way." —Stephen Cole, The Globe and Mail
Winner Best Documentary, Prix ARTE, 2010 European Film Academy Awards
Winner Best Documentary, 2010 Abu Dhabi Film Festival
Official Selection, 2010 Cannes Film Festival
Official Selection, 2010 Toronto International Film Festival
Official Selection, 2011 San Francisco International Film Festival
Official Selection, 2011 Miami International Film Festival
Official Selection, 2010 Melbourne International Film Festival
