Nostalgia for the Light

As Guzmán’s eloquent documentary attests, Chile’s Atacama Desert is a place of both inspiring wonders and unspeakable horrors. At 10,000 feet above sea level, it’s the perfect vantage point for astronomers to explore the marvels of the universe. But only a short distance from the gleaming white observatories are chilling reminders of Chile’s troubled past. The film weaves these two seemingly disparate subjects into a moving meditation on history, knowledge and mortality.