It’s the Earth Not the Moon
Jun 23, 2013
(Gonçalo Tocha, 2012, United States/Mexico, DVCAM, 183 min)
Film introduction by Cinema Scope writer Jay Kuehner!
For anyone who laments the modern world seeming too small, filmmaker Gonçalo Tocha’s voyage to the smallest of all worlds will inspire and revolutionize. On the two-mile-long island of Corvo exists a civilization which, for 500 years, has sat adrift in the middle of the Pacific, sustaining itself independent of the world economy. Tocha arrives, with few camera crewmen to distort his narrative, documenting his hesitant integration into the community that has eluded written record for so long.
Conscious of the island’s history and of the roles that he—and we, his audience—might play in it, Tocha films an unfiltered log of his discoveries and brings us along every astonishing step of the way. Filmed over two years, and clocking in at a good three hours, It’s the Earth Not the Moon offers a varied view of the island’s inhabitants: fishermen, shepherds, young people unenthusiastic about being filmed. It’s the Earth Not the Moon shows us that even in a unique and isolated community like Corvo, people are pretty much the same wherever you find them.
>> This film is part of our new documentary series N-E-X D-O-C-S: buy a series pass and see all of the films in N-E-X D-O-C-S at a discount! $35/Film Forum Members, $55/General