Soon the particular solitude of the lighthouse keeper will be lost to automation
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.
videoWork
Like a cheery Sisyphus, Fred dismantles an industrial chimney one brick at a time
12 minutes
videoArchitecture
Steep climbs lead to sacred spaces carved high into the cliffs of Ethiopia
9 minutes
videoMedicine
Drinking wine from toxic cups was the 17th century’s own dubious ‘detox’ treatment
11 minutes
videoEngineering
How water-based clocks revolutionised the way we measure time
10 minutes
videoDemography and migration
In California’s farmlands, immigrant workers share their stories of toil and hope
17 minutes
videoArchitecture
A lush tour of Fallingwater – the Frank Lloyd Wright design that changed architecture
14 minutes
videoHome
Life moves slowly in a Romanian mountain village, shaped by care and the seasons
13 minutes
videoEnvironmental history
In Kazakhstan, ‘atomic lakes’ still scar the landscape decades after Soviet nuclear tests
13 minutes
videoGender
A catchy tune explains the world’s ‘isms’ – according to your mum doing the laundry
5 minutes