“Constructed around an elegantly simple idea but executed with grace and ingenuity.” - Variety

What would happen if you drilled a tunnel straight through the centre of the earth? It's a fantastical question many children dream about. In ¡Vivan Las Antipodas!, director Victor Kossakovsky (Wednesday, MIFF 97) answers in unique style by comparing and contrasting the physical and social aspects of exact geographic opposites from around the world: Argentina and China; Spain and New Zealand; Chile and Russia; Botswana and Hawaii.

The pairing of chaotic Shanghai and secluded Entre Rios, Argentina, offers a particularly stark contrast: rural versus urban, small enterprise versus big industry. Meanwhile Lake Baikal in Russia and Patagonia in Chile are both mountainous, isolated settings - a reflection that subtly suggests our global collectiveness.

With strikingly original cinematography and seamless juxtapositions sometimes surreal in their similarity, Kossakovsky captures “impossible landscapes” to create a whimsical grandeur that can only be fully appreciated on the big screen, where it offers an awe-inspiring reminder of the interconnectedness of life on earth.

Screens with the FOCUS FORWARD short The Sky Is NOT The Limit (USA, 3 mins).

D Victor Kossakovsky P Heino Deckert Dist Madman Entertainment L English, Spanish, Russian, Setswana w/English subtitles TD DCP/2011