Salt of the Earth

Salt of The Earth by Wim Wenders and Juliano Salgado

For the last 40 years, the photographer Sebastiao Salgado has been traveling through the continents, in the footsteps of an ever-changing humanity. He had witnessed some of the major events of our recent history: international conflicts, starvation and exodus. He is now embarking on the discovery of pristine territories, of wild fauna and flora, and of grandiose landscapes as part of a huge photographic project, which is a tribute to the planet’s beauty.

The film also shows him on the farm where he grew up in Brazil, reunited with his family (including his filmmaker son, and Salt co-director, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado). Wenders observes his subject’s restoration to something like hope, a spiritual reboot rooted in the effort of bringing life back to a dead land. With his wife Leila, Saldago starts a massive project of environmental restoration on the farm.

In a sense, it’s as happy an ending of any movie you’re likely to see this year, a stirring suggestion that not only can the Earth be saved from disaster, but life can appear where death once prevailed and a shattered heart put back together again.

Salt of the Earth is available in my store.