English summary

“Kossakovsky’s ability to hit the mark verges on the incredible.”

“Pure poetry!”

¡Vivan las Antipodas! takes us on a unique journey around the world; four pairs of antipodes (places located diametrically opposite to each other on the earth’s surface) turn our view of the world upside down, quite literally. In a gorgeous, lyrical, sometimes overwhelming style, director Kossakovsky connects north and south, and east and west.

A beautiful sunset in Argentina’s virtually uninhabited Entre Ríos counterpoints the busy streets of rainy Shanghai. Kubu in Botswana is evidently the antipode of Big Island on Hawaii. Miraflores on the Spanish Costa del Sol is the antipode of Castle Point in New Zealand. And a Chilean region of Patagonia is connected to a dried out part of Lake Baikal in the south of Russia. Scenes highlighting contrasts alternate with scenes of seamless visual harmony. Thanks to these juxtapositions, the antipodes seem connected in a mythical way despite their great differences.

¡Vivan las Antipodas! is a feast for the senses and a fascinating kaleidoscope of our planet in all its diversity. This is magnificent cinema in its purest form; as an audience member you need only sit back and enjoy the spectacle. The film scooped nine international film awards.

This film would be at home in the WUR’s “One World Week” programme, but owing to a deadline issue could not be added to the official programme. However, the film can be seen at Movie W during One World Week (5- 11 April).