Visitors

Invited

Godfrey Reggio’s latest film is a wordless, sweeping rumination on the force of technology in our increasingly digital world. Visitors marks Reggio’s fourth collaboration with Philip Glass and represents a shift in approach from their previous features, the remarkable Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi, and Naqoyqatsi trilogy. This new work is composed entirely of black-and-white images and dramatically long takes—the entire 90 minutes consists of only 74 cuts. Arresting cinematography captures a series of surreal and supernatural sights. Faces stare directly into the camera, crowds of people bob and sway as they walk towards us, fingers flicker across the frame, and grand, immovable landscapes—both natural and manmade—hold us in thrall. Attempts to describe the assemblage’s meaning would say more about the viewer than the film itself. Without a single title card or word of dialogue, Visitors defies definition. It is cinema as an experience and one definitely worth having on the big screen.  ST

Director

Godfrey Reggio

Producers

Lawrence Taub, Godfrey Reggio, Phoebe Greenberg, Penny Mancuso, Jon Kane, Mara Campione

Executive Producers

Dan Noyes, Dean Chenoy

Editors

Chris Besecker, Jon Kane

Cinematographers

Trish Govoni, Graham Berry, Tom Lowe

Release Year

2013

Festival Year

2014

Country

United States

Run Time

87 minutes