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From Nikolaus Geyrhalter, the director of OUR DAILY BREAD, comes this IDFA Special Jury Award-winning documentary, an epic journey to twelve remote and rarely glimpsed locales and communities around the world.
Geyerhalter films expansive vistas of desert, snow, jungle, ice, and rainforest, travels with a scooter-riding Finnish reindeer herdsman, visits the home of a Namibian couple with relational problems, ventures out to sea with a Sardinian fisherman. In observational and striking visual portraits, impressions of modernization's influence on traditional societies emerge.
An homage to humanity, ELSEWHERE is a nuanced portrait of life - fragile and resilient - at the start of the 21st century.
"Cumulative effect is extraordinary, offering a refreshed view of how people live and raise families with little technological aid, yet with increasing dependency on the modern, outside world."—Variety
"ELSEWHERE is an astoundingly unique, landmark film, and a not-to-be missed opportunity to see places few of us will ever visit ourselves."—Doc Films
"The result of a colossal endeavor, [ELSEWHERE] combine(s) a poetic sensibility and political intent."—New York Times
"Nikolaus Geyrhalter is certainly not the first documentarian to make life on the planet's margins the core of his body of work, but he might yet be one of the best."—Benjamin Mercer, The L Magazine
"Shockingly beautiful!"—Rob Nelson, Village Voice
"Four short hours of pure cinematic fascination."—OON
"A great, subtly structured documentary…a venture that is without equal, not only in the documentary field ... In ELSEWHERE, often there is only a fine line dividing delicate humor from painful bitterness."—Die Presse
"In a patient, respectful manner, Austrian documentary filmmaker Nikolaus Geyrhalter connects the observation of traditional ways of life with an eye for the peculiarities and absurdities that result from the confrontation with so-called civilization."—Zurcher Tages-Anzeiger
"A monumental travel report...ELSEWHERE also subliminally reveals the effects of phenomena such as globalization."—Der Standard
"Geyrhalter's 'Elsewhere' is a maelstrom of images that does not let go of you until you have asked yourself at least as many questions as are briefly raised here. An extraordinary project that earns respect for its attitude but at the same time exerts an inescapable sensual fascination."—OON
"The film does not bowl over the viewer; instead, it leaves him the freedom to observe. There is no desire to satisfy an esoterically-minded public with healing insights. Geyrhalter's scenes confront and disillusion, while always maintaining a pinch of humor."—Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
"Although the term is never used, questions of 'globalization' return again and again to the center of the story. But one of the film's greatest achievements is the fact that this thematic strand never seems polemical or forced. Instead of naively pitting 'nature' against 'culture,' a 'naturalness' of whatever kind against the hegemonic tendencies of the West, 'Elsewhere' finds its way to subtle (and sometimes absurdly comical) images of cultural rupture and societal change."—Falter
"A journey around the world that rewards those who can wait."—Media Biz
"... a mysterious film in the best sense of the word."—Schaufenster
"After four hours, the viewer leaves the theater with a spring in his step."—VISA-Magazin
"We wish to honor an international project of immense value, a film which generates universal hope for humanity. It thinks globally and acts locally. In this new millennium, this film celebrates our interconnections in a truly global, and human village."—Special Jury Award, International Documentary Festival Amsterdam 2001
Citation
Main credits
Geyrhalter, Nikolaus (film director)
Geyrhalter, Nikolaus (film producer)
Geyrhalter, Nikolaus (photographer)
Widerhofer, Wolfgang (screenwriter)
Widerhofer, Wolfgang (editor of moving image work)
Burner, Silvia (screenwriter)
Other credits
Editing, Wolfgang Widerhofer; photography, Nikolaus Geyrhalter.
