Tracing the thread…
His documentaries obsessively explore humanity's relationship with massive industrial projects and their environmental consequences, from dams to mines.
Sergei Eisenstein Soviet UnionHe pioneered cinematically depicting industrial labor and infrastructure as subjects of revolutionary grandeur, most notably in films like *The Battleship Potemkin* and *October*.
Chloé Zhao China/USAHer films examine the human cost of industrial decline and modern infrastructure economies, portraying landscapes of factories, highways, and resource extraction with poetic intimacy.