When he comes across a photograph by Sebastião Salgado by chance, Wim Wenders falls in love with the way Salgado looks at mankind. Years later, now friends, they decide to collaborate on a project begin by the photographer’s son, Juliano, who filmed his father as they traveled around the world. Wim Wenders looks at Salgado’s unusual journey, armed with his artistic eye to confront the beauty and hostility of a world torn by war, famine and forced emigration, but also to pay homage to the magic of a planet full of resources.

Picture gallery

Shot in the same black and white in which he immortalizes the world, the wise face of Sebastião Salgado appears through his photographs thanks to the sophisticated direction of Wim Wenders. Because making a film-homage to an artist is difficult, the director of Paris, Texas and Buena Vista Social Club gives it an intense and quiet power that meets the benchmark of the photographer’s work and Wenders’ own movies. Through dozens of faces and landscapes, across continents and cultures, The Salt of the Earth offers a fantastic voyage through the pages of our history, seen through the eyes of a passionate artiste. It is hard not to be deeply distraught by terrifying images of bodies wrecked by famine or families destroyed by war, emphasized by the lens of the camera. Through the narration that accompanies the epic life of Salgado, the film opens more luminous perspectives, with a ending that is magical. Reflected by this silent nature that waits only to give life back, the photographer’s conscience, damaged by the visions of terrible humanity, finds his way back to a form of serenity. And with that the audience is filled with remarkable emotion.