“I believe the world is not worth the effort. I deem humanity without solution, despite all the solutions it seems able to find.” So begins Graça Castanheira’s stunning meditation on the rise and possible extinction of human life on Earth. She invites us to examine her charts and listen to her case—just for the duration of a meal “if wine is served.” Castanheira shows us strange and beautiful images—of mines deep within the earth, robotic assembly lines, the Grand Canyon, the carving on her tombstone—accompanied by sounds as varied as grinding machinery, a Schubert string quartet, the wind in Monument Valley, and multilingual greetings sent into space aboard the Voyager. Over it all, her voice challenges us to consider our place in the universe. “Are we a species trying to save itself in spite of the planet?” she asks. “Or are we witnessing the planet dealing with a species with which it has become infested?”  AT