This three-part video is loosely based on nineteenth-century depictions of a cluster of islands off of the west coast of Peru that are rich in guano, a powerful fertilizer. Exploring the drama of absurdity, greed, and human suffering—all for the brown gold of bird excrement—the film revisits three important episodes in the islands’ infamous history: the nineteenth-century imperial wars between Spain and its former colonies Peru and Chile; the horrific fate of the indentured Chinese laborers; and the US Guano Act of 1856 that authorized over one hundred claims for uninhabited islands, reefs, and atolls in the Pacific and Atlantic.
Directed by Dinh Q. Lê
Popular Reviews
1 review
olivia
8.0★ · 11/11/24
the cockroach imagery really works in this, and the camera work was so interesting and effective
the cockroach imagery really works in this, and the camera work was so interesting and effective
