Using the work of Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky to explore the impact of China's rapid economic development on its environment, Jennifer Baichwal's important, disquieting documentary offers the strongest reminder since BORN INTO BROTHELS that art can serve a crucial, consciousness raising purpose.
Burtynsky is renowned for his large, often beautiful photographs of some very ugly subjects: "manufactured landscapes," natural terrain that has been scarred, bruised, torn open or otherwise modified by the incursion of human industry. Blasted quarries, clear-cut forests, and open-pit coal mines have all figured in his photographs, and he's been able to f...
Released:
2006
Rated:
NR
Length:
90 mins