Jennifer Baichwal's documentary, Manufactured Landscapes, is opening at Downtown West tomorrow, and I'd encourage everyone with an interest in globalization, environmentalism, photography and/or film to give it a shot. I saw its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival a little over a year ago and can still play back whole sequences from memory. The opening shot is one of the most fascinating you'll ever see.

For the past few years, photographer Edward Burtynsky has been traveling around the world, capturing images of man's impact on the land. In her film, Baichwal follows Burtynsky to China and more or less watches over his shoulder as he find the strange beauty in places like rock quarries, manufacturing facilities, and the Three Gorges Dam project. It's not a perfect film, but it'll be one of the most interesting things shown in a Knoxville theater all year.