Baraka (movie)

Baraka is an experimental documentary film directed by Ron Fricke, cinematographer for Koyaanisqatsi and the other Qatsi films by Godfrey Reggio. Often compared to the experimental documentary Koyaanisqatsi, Baraka's subject matter is in fact similar--including footage of various landscapes, desolate cityscapes, fields of jets, and industrial areas. The film also features a number of long tracking shots through various settings, including one through a former concentration camp turned into a museum honoring its victims: over photos of the people involved, past skulls stacked in a room, to a spread of bones. While Koyaanisqatsi makes comparisons between natural phenomena and between technological phenomena, Baraka makes comparisons between cultures: for instance, following a shot of a prostitute with one of a geisha and then one of Kabuki dancers, or following a shot of an elaborate tattoo with one of tribal paint.

The movie was shot in 70mm film in 24 countries on 6 continents.

The score provided by Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard (from Dead Can Dance) and Michael Stearns is noticably different from the minimalist one provided by Philip Glass for Koyaanisqatsi.