Michael Stearns Movies

Director and cinematographer Ron Fricke offers a striking glimpse into some of the world's most remarkable happenings in this visually spectacular documentary. Following in the same template as 1992's Baraka (also directed by Fricke), Samsara is a study in the ways humanity works as a collective and as individuals, with the cycle of human existence providing the subtext for the parade of images (the title is a Tibetan word meaning "the wheel of life"). Combining scenes of destruction and rebirth, images of profound humanity and mechanized lifelessness, Baraka includes remarkable images of people working together en masse, including Muslims visiting the holy city of Mecca, hundred of Chinese dancers performing a synchronized routine, and prisoners doing group exercises in a prison yard. Fricke filmed Samsara over a period of several years, shooting on 65mm film stock and transferring the footage to 4K high-definition video for post-production and exhibition. Samsara received its world premiere at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In the last remaining waterhole of Botswana's arid Kalahari Desert, territorial conflict abounds as a powerful lion king attempts to defend his territory against a vicious nomadic lion determined to claim the throne for himself. The Kalahari is a land where water is scarce, and every animal in the region has become locked into a life or death struggle against the harsh and unforgiving elements. Though the current king of the desert presides over the hole with his two lionesses and a litter of cubs close by, the time may have finally come for the tides to turn in favor of a younger, more powerful adversary. Renowned nature filmmaker Tim Liversedge offers a breathtaking trip into the heart of the African wilderness in an IMAX 3-D experience that brings viewers as close to nature's most majestic predator while telling a compelling tale of survival in the savannah. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Loosely based on a story by Honore de Balzac, this historical drama is set in Egypt in 1798, as Napoleon was leading the French army into the Middle East. Officer Augustin Robert (Ben Daniels) has been assigned to escort artist Jean-Michel Venture de Paradis (Michel Piccoli), who is to record and catalog his findings as he studies the archeological and artistic treasures of the region before they're destroyed in battle. Augustin and Venture find themselves separated from the platoon with which they travel, and as they split up in hopes for finding water and shelter, Venture is driven mad by thirst and resorts to drinking his paints to survive. However, Augustin is befriended by a wild leopard, and he develops an unspoken communication with the animal that saves his life and teaches him a new understanding of other creatures. A Passion in the Desert was produced, directed, and adapted for the screen by Lavinia Currier; it was her first feature film. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Named after a Sufi word that translates roughly as "breath of life" or "blessing," Baraka is Ron Fricke's impressive follow-up to Godfrey Reggio's non-verbal documentary film Koyaanisqatsi. Fricke was cinematographer and collaborator on Reggio's film, and for Baraka he struck out on his own to polish and expand the photographic techniques used on Koyaanisqatsi. The result is a tour-de-force in 70mm: a cinematic "guided meditation" (Fricke's own description) shot in 24 countries on six continents over a 14-month period that unites religious ritual, the phenomena of nature, and man's own destructive powers into a web of moving images. Fricke's camera ranges, in meditative slow motion or bewildering time-lapse, over the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, the Ryoan-Ji temple in Kyoto, Lake Natron in Tanzania, burning oil fields in Kuwait, the smoldering precipice of an active volcano, a busy subway terminal, tribal celebrations of the Masai in Kenya, chanting monks in the Dip Tse Chok Ling monastery...and on and on, through locales across the globe. To execute the film's time-lapse sequences, Fricke had a special camera built that combined time-lapse photography with perfectly controlled movements of the camera. In one evening sequence a desert sky turns black, and the stars roll by, as the camera moves slowly forward under the trees. The feeling is like that of viewing the universe through a powerful telescope: that we are indeed on a tiny orb hurtling through a star-filled void. The film is complemented by the hybrid world-music of Michael Stearns. ~ Anthony Reed, Rovi

Chronos takes the viewer on a journey through time using both images and music, beginning at the dawn of civilization and following through to Paris in the present day with stops at some of the world's great man-made marvels along the way. Features original music by Michael Stearns. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi