A Science on Screen® Presentation

Including pre-show presentation: Rescued from Oblivion: Preserving Archives Through Science-based Practices from Dr. Angela Fritz and Elizabeth Stone of the University of Iowa

"Deeply philosophical, poignant, and profound."—Rob Rector, Film Threat

This poetic documentary explores a quirk of humankind: in a universe that erases its tracks, we humans are hellbent on leaving a trace. Set against the backdrop of the filmmaker's quixotic quest to build an ark in a field in Maine, the film heads far afield – to salt mines in the Alps, fjords in the Arctic, and ancient libraries in the Sahara – to illuminate the strange world of archives,  record-keeping, and memory. Playfully weaving stop-motion animation, spellbinding cinematography and fascinating interviews from the director's inner circle and experts in the fields of science, culture and art – including documentarians Werner Herzog and Kirsten Johnson – the film reveals how nature inspires the human drive behind filmmaking.

An initiative of the COOLIDGE CORNER THEATRE, with major support from the ALFRED P. SLOAN FOUNDATION.