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THE ARC OF OBLIVION

  • 2024
  • 1 HR, 38 min
  • MAR 22 → APR 3
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Details
Released February 16, 2024
United States
1 hour, 38 minutes
Abramorama
None
Starring
  • Ian Cheney
  • Werner Herzog
Director

Ian Cheney

Film Information

THE ARC OF OBLIVION 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 ARC OF OBLIVION reveals how nature inspires the human drive behind filmmaking.

Film Stills

Full Cast
Ian Cheney
Werner Herzog
Additional Credits
Ian Cheney Director

Reviews

“In his attempt to imagine why, and how, we try to preserve memories, Cheney unearths something beautiful: We want to remember not just ourselves, but other people, and that’s what’s behind the efforts.”

Alissa Wilkinson
The New York Times

“Cheney presents his far-ranging examination of memory and the pursuit of permanence in an entertaining, idiosyncratic way. […] The Arc of Oblivion offers a truly thought-provoking consideration of a heady subject.”

Diane Carson
Alliance of Women Film Journalists

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