Jennifer Baichwal’s film of Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky and his work was released in June 2007. We reviewed the film for Kultureflash.

Edward Burtynsky: Manufactured Landscapes

Right from the opening shot – an astounding five minute tracking-shot through a seemingly infinite Chinese factory – this multi-award winning film highlights the two facets of Canadian Edward Burtynsky’s work: on the one hand what he produces is remarkable and beautiful pictures of ‘nature transformed through industry’; and on the other, they are issue-laden images of the effect of industry on man. The film follows Burtynsky as he chronicles where things start – the immense mines, the weird incongruity of hand-made mass production – and where they end up – his incredible ship-breaking images and the unbelievable shots in the film of people hammering open individual electronic components for their metal pins. This film makes it clear that his images are the more unbelievable for being real and director Jennifer Baichwal has produced a documentary which, in an unhurried and reflective manner, doesn’t expose its subject so much as put you in their place for 90 minutes.