Leonardo Da Costa is a lighthouse keeper stationed in the small hamlet of Cabo Polonio on Uruguay’s southeastern coast. The area has no road access and is largely cut off from the rest of the world, but the lighthouse there has helped guide ships on this treacherous bit of coast since 1881. Through fleeting glimpses of Da Costa’s home, work and daily routines, but without a single line of dialogue or clear shots of his face, filmmakers Diego Vivanco and Ian Clark give a sense of this disappearing way of life as automation closes in on the last lighthouses around the world.
Soon the particular solitude of the lighthouse keeper will be lost to automation

videoBiography and memoir
Former lighthouse keepers reminisce about solitude, and the power of the sea
6 minutes

videoMood and emotion
The profound solitude of a winter spent alone on an island caring for an empty hotel
14 minutes

videoAnimals and humans
A visually stunning, visceral depiction of the ancient ritual of ox fighting
12 minutes

videoHome
Life moves slowly in a Romanian mountain village, shaped by care and the seasons
13 minutes

videoLove and friendship
What does it mean to say goodbye to a creature that doesn’t know you’re leaving?
13 minutes

videoNature and landscape
A breezy ode to wind ponders its power, beauty and utility
10 minutes

videoEcology and environmental sciences
Breathtaking views and solitude: scenes from a Montana forest fire lookout post
16 minutes

videoHistory of technology
A man struggles to carry on a dying trade – harvesting ice from a glacier
14 minutes

videoDemography and migration
La Estrella, Spain – population: two. Will the last couple in the village leave?
5 minutes