Once Within A Time

Celebrated director Godfrey Reggio (KOYAANISQATSI) returns after ten years with a new experimental film unlike any other from his already daring career: a bardic fairy tale about the end of the world and the beginning of a new one, tinged with apocalyptic comedy, rapturous cinematography, unforgettable vistas, and the innocence and hopes of a new generation. Featuring an electrifying score composed by Reggio's longtime collaborator Philip Glass with additional vocals from Sussan Deyhim and co-directed by veteran editor and filmmaker Jon Kane, ONCE WITHIN A TIME is the indie revelation of the year.

If previous works by Godfrey Reggio and Philip Glass brought the destructive force of human activities to the fore, this new collaboration—nine years in the making since its inception, and their first since VISITORS (2013)—provides an injection of innocence and the possibility of hope. In this imaginative work, children inhabit a surreal and whimsical world created in a studio—a departure from the duo’s previous body of work, which draws primarily from real-world images. While the title brings to mind the opening of a fairy tale, there isn’t a plot or a straightforward message. Dreamlike scenes guide us through a journey into the subconscious, where youngsters take center stage. Shot digitally but designed to evoke the celluloid aesthetic, the film appears as nostalgic sci-fi tying together past and future. Adults are not absent: vocalist Sussan Deyhim, who creates and performs music in addition to Glass’s stirring original score, appears as a towering presence presiding over the dreamscape, and Mike Tyson makes an intriguing appearance that leaves much for interpretation.