Life Invisible

On the vast salt flats of Chile’s Atacama Desert, passionate microbiologist Cristina Dorador is searching for a life-saving natural remedy for antibiotic resistance. Time is running out, because mining lithium for electric cars is damaging the delicate ecosystem. This rare earth metal is essential for the energy transition, but its extraction is worsening the water shortage in this already bone-dry area.

Obviously, this is causing serious problems on the local level. However, the observational Life Invisible zooms out to the bigger picture and shows how complex our planet is. On this desolate and inhospitable plain, two seemingly unrelated global challenges intersect and interfere with each other. Everything is interconnected and each affects the other. The imagery plays with perspectives: microscopic images of swarming bacteria form a visual rhyme with drone shots of people moving across the desert.