An·thro·po·cene /ˈanTHrəpəˌsēn/ – The proposed current geological epoch in which humans are the primary cause of permanent planetary change.
The third collaboration between award-winning photographer Edward Burtynsky and acclaimed filmmakers Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier continues their exploration of industrialization and extraction in astonishing scale and perspective as they travel to six continents and 20 countries to document the impact humans have made on the planet.
The film reveals in stunning images how our mania for conquest defines our relationship to the Earth — and how we have created a global epidemic. In Kenya, mounds of elephant tusks burn in a devastating display of the impact of poaching (chillingly reminiscent of the bison skulls that were piled high in the clearing of the Canadian plains for settlement). In Russia and Germany, mining operations transform terrains into otherworldly industrial wastelands as hypnotic, colossal, lifelike machines endlessly extract on an unfathomable scale.
ANTHROPOCENE: The Human Epoch is a mesmerizing and disturbing rumination on what drives us as a species, and a call to wake up to the destruction caused by our dominance.
“There’s a fierce beauty to the work of Baichwal, Burtynsky and de Pencier. They travel the world with an artful lens that makes human constructions seem awe-inspiring — but only from a distance.” – Peter Howell, Toronto Star
