Desert films: towards a geopoetics of the cinematographic desert

Geopoetics wants to "re-establish and enrich the long broken link between man and the earth", writes Kenneth White. In the gesture of going to the desert crystallizes a desire of the filmmaker to return to the expressive foundations of the cinematographic medium, searching for a kind of essence of the cinematographic language, for a primary origin, like the Christian hermits were looking for when they were seeking a spiritual revelation in the desert landscape.

Excerpts from:

Freedom (Sharunas Bartas, 2000)
Gerry (Gus Van Sant, 2002)
El Cant dels Ocells (Albert Serra, 2008)
La Région Centrale (Michael Snow, 1971)
Proximity (Inger Lise Hansen, 2006)
Cobra Mist (Emily Richardson, 2008)
BNSF (James Benning, 2013)
Fata Morgana (Werner Herzog, 1971)
Desert (Stan Brakhage, 1976)
Chott-el-Djerid: a portrait in light and heat (Bill Viola, 1979)