The Burning Sensation

Part Carnivale, part summer camp, part communal performance art piece, the annual Burning Man fire ceremony has grown from a small celebration to a gathering of more than 25,000 people in the temporary city of Black Rock, Nevada. Alex Nohe's documentary about the event is sympathetic without being gullible: He isn't blind to the silliness, but also captures moments of spontaneous creativity and authentic co-operative interaction. He captures both the party animals, who clearly see it as a week-long Halloween party — Mardi Gras without the New Orleans police stomping everyone's buzz — and the earnest neo-hippies sincerely into ecstatic communion with nature ...