Koyaanisqatsi

Godfrey Reggio’s Koyaanisqatsi was a sensation when it was released in 1983. The first work of The Qatsi Trilogy, this cult film wordlessly surveys the rapidly changing built environment in an astonishing audio-visual collage created by director/cinematographer Ron Fricke and composer Philip Glass. It shuttles viewers from one jaw-dropping vision to the next, contrasting beautiful images of untouched nature with scenes depicting humanity’s increasing dependence on technology. Koyaanisqatsi’s unorthodox cinematic style (including hypnotic time-lapse photography) shows us our changing world from an array of awe-inspiring and confronting angles.