Documentary Archives – Laemmle Theatres

Orlando von Einsiedel’s ‘The Cycle of Love’ Takes Mettle to the Pedal

September 2, 2026 by Lamb Laemmle Leave a Comment

A prophecy of true love. A perilous journey most sane men would not attempt. These are classic fairy tale ingredients, but in 1977, for one young man in Delhi, they were very real. The Cycle of Love documents his incredible journey across continents to find the metaphorical princess.

The Cycle of Love opens Sept. 4^th at Laemmle’s Royal, and Sept. 11^th at the Glendale and Town Center 5. Real-life subjects Lotta and P.K. Mahanandia will participate in Q&As following the 7:25 p.m. shows on Friday, Sept. 4th and Saturday, Sept. 5^th, at the Royal

Director Orlando von Einsiedel has twice won Academy Awards for documentary shorts: in 2016 for “The White Helmets,” and in 2020, for “Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (if you’re a girl).” Both films took the British director across the Muslim world, from Turkey to Syria and Afghanistan. The subject of The Cycle of Love goes on a similar journey, retraced by von Einsiedel’s cameras. P.K. Mahanandia, narrating in the present and played by Chirag Benedict Lobo in reenactments, was drawing portraits for money on the streets when he met Swedish tourist Lotta Von Schedvin (also herself in present-day segments, and Mina Dale in flashbacks), and knew it was destiny.

At least, he thought he knew. A prediction carved into a leaf, made by an astrologer in P.K.’s infancy, said his true love would live far away, be a Taurus, be musical, and own a jungle. Lotta hit all four, much to P.K.’s delight, with the asterisk that her family owned forest land rather than a literal jungle. He brought her to meet his parents; she promised to return in August. When she did not do so, he vowed to go to her…yet all he could afford was a half-price woman’s bicycle. Perhaps not since David Lynch’s The Straight Story, which documented Alvin Straight’s 1994 journey on a riding mower to see his ailing brother, has cinema tackled such a real-life, slow-motion, underdog odyssey for love.

It was the ’70s, so people still hitchhiked, traveled the world in vans, and were generally hospitable to wandering nomads, even in countries we now consider hostile like Iran and Afghanistan (Pakistan proved to be the exception, for Indians at least). Much of the road traveled is even called “the hippie trail.” So like any great mythic hero, P.K. met several interesting characters along the way, some of whom helped, while others hindered. At least one could almost have been a morality test from the gods, which he passed.

Von Einsiedel has made a unique choice not to strictly document the journey as it happened, but in spirit as he retraces it. Rather than specifically recasting the individuals encountered by P.K., he has actor Chirag Benedict Lobo interact in character with real people along the way, as the film crew follows the same path. It’s shot in a grainy style designed to evoke the ’70s, and presented as if it is, interspersed with what little available archival film exists, yet the presence of the lead actor tells us it’s new, while the testimonies of the real people he meets indicate that too little has changed over the years. In particular, P.K.’s heritage as part of the “Untouchable” Dalit caste in Indian society made him the victim of his own culture’s bigotry, viewing him as so spiritually dirty that even physical contact requires an immediate cleanse. When Lobo-as-P.K. speaks to other Dalits, it’s clear the prejudice remains.

The Cycle of Love also pointedly films the real P.K. and the real Lotta against completely different backdrops, leaving us in suspense for most of the movie as to whether or not the quest succeeded, or even if they’ve talked since then. Because it’s a documentary – albeit a mostly restaged one — viewers can find out the answer in advance if they really want to, but for better appreciation of the dramatic arc, the filmmakers strongly suggest that you refrain from that, and take the journey as it is meant to be experienced. In a year that cinema has rediscovered the classic literary Odyssey, come along for the ride on the one that really happened.

“Einsiedel’s method edges toward the revelatory, often recalling the cockeyed realities of Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami.” – Christian Craig, In Review Online.

“Delicate and heartwarming, Orlando von Einsiedel’s stirring documentary “The Cycle of Love” is the kind of film whose sweet subject transcends time and borders.” – Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com.

Rustin Thompson’s ‘The Last Picture Shows’ Salutes the Movie Theaters That Survive

August 12, 2026 by Lamb Laemmle Leave a Comment

Ten states. 10,825 miles. 123 theaters. All filmed by Rustin Thompson for The Last Picture Shows, a cinematic portrait of the last main-street cinemas still standing in the small towns of the American west.

The Last Picture Shows opens Aug. 21 at Laemmle’s Royal. Q&As with director Rustin Thompson: Fri., Aug. 21 after the 7:20 p.m. show, moderated by film professor and author Ross Melnick; Sat., Aug. 22 after the 7:20 p.m. show, moderated by filmmaker April Wright; and Sun., Aug. 23 after the 3 p.m. show moderated by author John Trafton.

Thompson, who’s a journalist, critic, and radio host in addition to being a filmmaker, is a near one-man show, serving as his own cinematographer and sound man in addition to writing and directing. It feels like a video essay, with a musical rhythm, that’s been punctuated by more conversational interviews with the primary operators of many of the theaters he comes across.

There’s a haunting beauty to a colorful movie theater after dark as the only light source on a small-town street. There’s an even more tragic beauty to one that’s been permanently closed, standing as an echo of a more community-minded past. In the west, they tend to be the tallest thing around, as outstretched, flat plains or snow-capped peaks seem to stretch out forever into the distance. With so few people in Thompson’s frame, the buzzphrase du jour comes to mind: liminal spaces. Everything we see is some form of lost – either lost to a past that still shows enough remnants to stick in the mind, or lost to the backroads of America, unseen by those who have easier access to a mall multiplex or urban IMAX screen.

This year’s cinematic successes, from the classical adaptation of The Odyssey to the youth-skewing horror of Obsession and art-house surprise of Tuner, have proved audiences still want to go to the movies. But it’s been a rough economic road for the places that show them. Mandatory minimum runs enforced by studios can hamstring a theater, once everyone in town who wants to see a particular film has already attended. Then the relatively low profit margins of the situation left businesses with low reserves when COVID lockdowns hit. Those who hang in there do it because they love it, and urge the studios to adjust and ensure that young people still value the cinematic experience.

Thompson’s cinematography is some of the year’s absolute best, imbued with a haunting, ghost-town quality and scored to melancholy country music that suggests a vanishing way of life which is quintessentially American. Yet it’s not all tears for times gone by – most of the folks running these places are stubborn, versatile, and love what they do. Many have reconsidered the space as more than just a place for movies – they also run private parties, stage shows, and the kinds of onscreen theater and one-night only events that programs like Fathom Events make possible.

Many of these regular folks don’t know it, but they’re reflective of the larger entertainment industry as a whole. With fewer guarantees and an end to the star system, many actors and filmmakers take on second jobs these days, just as theater operators are doing. Yet the human connection every aspect of the industry provides matters all the more; the movie makes a strong case that we need these communal movie experiences, even if they’ll never make a person wealthy. There’s just enough film history offered up to give all involved some hope that the business has always been, and continues to be, cyclical.

Laemmle Theatres knows a fair bit about adaptation and the struggle, too. We salute this salute to our siblings-in-exhibition.

“The narratives are compelling, but the movie’s lyrical and elegiac tone makes it truly resonant.” – Glenn Kenny, The New York Times.

“Rustin Thompson’s The Last Picture Shows, then, is at once a cautionary tale and a love letter to an era before it becomes bygone.” – Donald Liebenson, RogerEbert.com.

Mye Hoang’s ’25 Cats From Qatar’ Are the Most Adorable Refugees

August 12, 2026 by Lamb Laemmle Leave a Comment

Cats have always gotten the short end of the stick from the movies relative to dogs, but director Mye Hoang has worked hard to even the odds, with her previous documentary Cat Daddies and her latest, 25 Cats From Qatar, which has the benefit of helping the kitties it showcases, and more.

25 Cats From Qatar opens Aug. 12th at the Town Center 5, Aug. 13th at Laemmle’s Royal, and Aug. 14th at the Glendale. Director Mye Hoang will participate in Q&As at the Glendale following the 4:30 PM shows from August 14 through August 20, as well as after the 1:20 PM and 7:00 PM shows on August 15 and 16.

Producer Alex Megaro will join Hoang on August 15 through August 19 for the 4:30 PM Q&As. Rescuer Katy McHugh will join Hoang on August 14 and August 15 after the 4:30 PM and 7:00 PM shows.

Hoang will participate in a Q&A following the 7:30pm shows on August 12 at the Town Center, and August 13 at the Royal. Cinematographer Patrick Ouziel will join Hoang on August 13. Cat food and supply donations will be accepted Aug. 14-16 by Del Gato Rescue, Urban Panthers, and Kitty Bungalow.

Cats might not take instruction from major studio directors as well as dogs do, but focus a documentary camera on them, and plenty will give the filmmaker a performance, even if hitting their marks is out of the question. In Qatar, where the stray cat population is equal to that of the human population at around three million apiece, many of these felines have become fearless. They pop up from drains, run across busy roads, beg for food and survive the harshness of gum disease and eye injury. Curiosity doesn’t cull the cat population, but it often leaves the fur babies hurting.

Into Qatar comes Milwaukee cat cafe owner Katy McHugh, looking to bring as many of the strays as possible to the U.S. for adoption – 25 is about as much as she can get away with per trip. Numerous rescuers within Qatar are her allies; over the course of four days, they help her select and prepare 25, out of the exponentially more available, that experience has taught Katy will most likely appeal to American adopters.

Qatar’s population is primarily temporary immigrant workers lured by the paychecks, and penchant for construction, of the wealthy. They take on pets – often cute kittens bought at a store – for companionship, but once their tenure is over and they have to leave the country, they often leave the cats behind too. This has helped with the rat problem, but now presents an overpopulation issue that welcomes other countries taking in, essentially, refugee cats.

Animal lovers, have no fear – this is not a movie about cats getting hurt, but rather, rescued. The conflict comes from which cats get to go and how they can make the trip; McHugh, who has done this so often she knows airport ground crew personnel by face, comes prepared, both with knowledge of the process and a charming midwestern manner that endears her to most people she meets. It’s a targeted charm that achieves results – much as a cat purring against your leg is likely to get food or rubs.

Like many advocacy documentaries, 25 Cats From Qatar is something of a call to action, but what it doesn’t outright say might be as powerful as what it does. If we can be brought to care this much about animals in need being brought over for a better life, why do we not more often care about children in similar circumstances as well?

The bottom line, though, is that if you’re coming to see hordes of adorable kitties, it delivers.

“25 Cats from Qatar succeeds not just as an advocacy piece but as a compelling, fast-paced rescue adventure.” – Alan Ng, Film Threat.

“Beyond the cats, 25 Cats From Qatar is a glimpse into the lives of ordinary people in the Middle East, kind people with the same hopes and dreams as everybody else, that feels timely and necessary right now.” – Rob Thomas, Substack.

David Alvarado’s ‘American Pachuco’ Pays Tribute to a Pioneering Director

July 21, 2026 by Lamb Laemmle 1 Comment

It’s notable and maddening that the director of the most successful Chicano movie ever never got to make another theatrical feature. Fortunately, it’s not like Luis Valdez, who made La Bamba, has been idle. David Alvarado’s American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez, catches up with the now-octogenarian to chronicle his life as an artist and activist.

Watch American Pachuco: the Legend of Luis Valdez at Laemmle’s Royal and NoHo starting July 24^th. Director David Alvarado and subjects Luis Valdez and Lou Diamond Phillips will participate in Q&As after the 7:20 PM show on July 24 at the Royal and after the 7:00 PM show on July 25 at the NoHo.

According to Merriam-Webster, “pachuco” means a young Mexican-American having a taste for flashy clothes and a special jargon and usually belonging to a neighborhood gang. The gang part is likely a stereotype; socially defiant attitudes were definitely involved, as with many youth cultures. Yet the film underscores that the Zoot Suit riots, and the Sleepy Lagoon murder that preceded them, were more about white racism than Chicano crime, though law enforcement at the time knew who was easier to blame.

Valdez immortalized the events in the play Zoot Suit, and its subsequent filmed version; it became a huge hit in Los Angeles, but fared less well on Broadway, where the documentary highlights how racially charged reviews speculated whether Valdez, who was an English major in college, could speak the language well enough to convey a point.

Considering Valdez was born in 1940 to poor migrant farm workers, it’s remarkable just how much filmed footage exists of his entire life, including the early years. Director David Alvarado, who was inspired by La Bamba to make movies, clearly reveres Valdez, and sets out to make the case that you should too. A theater kid in a family where lack of privilege made that kind of think a nigh-untouchable luxury, Luis Valdez had his first role in a school play stymied by his parents being evicted. As he grew up and understood the protests led by Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez, he staged activist plays by and for the workers, sometimes performed on truck beds. Alvarado frames the story as a quintessentially American success story, albeit one that must still speak out to justify itself.

Still alive and vital, Valdez is able to reflect back on camera, as is Huerta, Linda Ronstadt, Zoot Suit star Edward James Olmos, La Bamba breakthrough star Lou Diamond Phillips, producer Taylor Hackford, and more. Alvarado, whose previous documentary feature Blood Sugar Rising dealt with diabetes, has a much more pleasant task at hand here. Paying tribute to an artistic hero of his, he has the treasure trove of a lifetime of footage, from which to assemble a mere hour and a half. Edward James Olmos narrates in character as Zoot Suit‘s El Pachuco, which became his breakthrough, Tony-nominated role, though he also appears as himself.

As Valdez prepares to executive-produce a remake of La Bamba, perhaps this vital look back at his entire career as a playwright, TV producer, and activist can offer him more opportunities while he’s still with us. Like Ritchie Valens might sing, “Come on, let’s go!”

“Alvarado’s documentary turns into a defiant reminder of our past struggles, a celebration of our successes and progress, and a call to remain proud of one’s roots. “ – Monica Castillo, RogerEbert.com.

“As much as the doc is explicitly celebratory, its existence is inherently a political statement, just like Valdez’s oeuvre. To spotlight a Mexican American pioneer who still stands proud in all the nuances of his identity feels necessarily defiant. “ – Carlos Aguilar, Variety.

Ross McElwee Revisits Personal Loss and Cinema in ‘Remake’

July 14, 2026 by Lamb Laemmle Leave a Comment

Long before blogging and social media, Ross McElwee was turning a movie camera on his own life, processing his own reality through the films he made, like 1985’s groundbreaking documentary Sherman’s March. His latest, Remake, offers the biggest personal challenge to date – emotionally coming to terms with the death of his son.

Catch both Remake and a new restoration of Sherman’s March this Friday, July 17^th at Laemmle’s Royal.

Whatever the ostensible, assigned topic of McElwee’s documentaries – be it General Sherman or Big Tobacco – the real pleasures of his movies come when he tends to get sidetracked and return to the subject of his own life. For his last couple of films, In Paraguay and Photographic Memory, he cut directly to the chase and started with his family. Photographic Memory spotlighted his complicated relationship with his son, Adrian; fourteen years later, he’s dealing with Adrian’s death from drug addiction.

There is an originally assigned topic to Remake – Sherman’s March was being considered for a Hollywood remake as a fiction film, and McElwee signed a deal that allowed him to make a film about the making of the new film. As the movie stalled in development, however, Adrian spiraled downward and ultimately died. Adrian was himself an aspiring filmmaker, and Remake is made up of footage shot by him as well as his father.

McElwee’s narration remains as steadily deadpan as always, like he can reason his way through anything, but in this case he only comes up with more questions that require answers from the heart rather than the head. He’s always been masterful at self-analysis, yet it’s clear that he now realizes its inadequacy in the face of such a blow. The best he can do is keep Adrian alive on film, and try to understand him by seeing the world through his camera. At a certain age, Adrian stopped wanting to be the subject of his father’s films – in death, his shared credit as cinematographer and editor offers a glimpse at the artist he might have become. It’s clear that he followed somewhat in his father’s footsteps, trying to understand his own life through the camera lens, but having his own addiction as a topic didn’t allow him enough distance. The elder McElwee, naturally, wonders how much of this is his fault as a father.

The reuse of footage from his older films is a common McElwee technique, done both because he doesn’t assume audiences have seen all his films, and because the footage takes on new context when viewed as flashback rather than contemporary commentary. In Remake, he takes short side quests to catch up with some of the characters from Sherman’s March, now four decades older, using the old scenes for contrast. Audiences don’t have to make do with those snippets, as Sherman’s March in its entirety, now remastered in high definition, will be playing alongside Remake in theaters. Indeed, it is even more effective as a time capsule than it was as contemporaneous Boomer self-reflection. Particularly in light of all McElwee’s subsequent movies about himself as a family man, filmed evidence of his awkward single life during the Reagan administration stands as a slice of verite Americana, unpolished by the image-consciousness of the era.

“Even in a film as sombre as “Remake,” one of the joys of [Ross] McElwee’s method is the freedom with which he constructs his movies. “ – Richard Brody, The New Yorker.

“Both an elegy for a son and a meditation on artistic purpose, this autobiographical documentary transforms unbearable personal loss into a powerfully intimate probe of memory, creativity, and family legacies. “ – Todd Jorgenson, Cinemalogue.

It’s Identity vs. Politics in Chase Joynt’s ‘State of Firsts’

June 29, 2026 by Lamb Laemmle Leave a Comment

“Transgender for everyone” is a dog-whistle phrase the current administration frequently uses to scare conservative parents. Yet with additional punctuation, “transgender, for everyone,” it could sum up the campaign of Sarah McBride, the first transwoman elected to Congress. Chase Joynt’s new documentary State of Firsts follows her campaign, its immediate aftermath, and how it changes her along the way.

Catch State of Firsts at the Laemmle Glendale beginning July 2^nd. Director Chase Joynt will participate in Q&As following the 7:30 PM shows on Thursday, July 2 and Friday, July 3, as well as the 3:10 PM show on Sunday, July 5.

Joynt, a professor of gender studies at the University of Victoria, is also an acclaimed documentarian usually focusing on transgender history, in films like No Ordinary Man and Framing Agnes. Here, he gets to chronicle history in real-time: a personal “first” like the others implied in the title. Sarah McBride looked to be the first trans woman elected to Congress in the same year – 2024 – in which she also anticipated the first Black female president, who would have been the first president of South Asian descent as well. That McBride won while Kamala Harris lost reveals an electorate more complex than some pundits might have it.

On his official university faculty page, Joynt states that he is often asked, “Are you a film person invested in gender theory or a gender studies person who also makes films?” He evidently saw a similar dichotomy in McBride, who wanted to run to represent her constituents primarily, but constantly found herself being pushed into representing every transgender American. For her, politics and the personal are intertwined more in her advocacy for affordable health care than her gender – her husband, a trans man, died of cancer at the age of 28, mere days after they got married.

Through much of the film Joynt’s cameras focus closely on McBride’s face as she’s driving her car. The road trips between campaign stops offer a convenient place to talk, but they also capture emotional nuance and convey the sense that she is very much in control of her path and message. Once she is elected, she notably starts taking the train like her mentor Joe Biden, and the visual metaphor is immediate – now she’s being swept along by the currents of government, forced to be one of many passengers rather than a lone driver.

McBride’s home state of Delaware in 2024 already seems like a time and place far removed from our own, a mere two years later. At least from what we see, McBride receives a mostly positive reception as she goes door to door and talks to ordinary people in public. The menace represented by her opponents, pre-election, mostly comes through in threatening signs, and Joynt periodically narrows the aspect ratio, pointedly boxing McBride’s image in, when he intersperses national news footage.

Once she is elected – hardy a spoiler, since she’s in Congress now – a far more deranged response ensues. In the face of such opposition, can McBride maintain her stance of being the patient listener who’ll talk nicely to her political opponents, or become more confrontational as the situation dictates? The movie offers hints, but you can follow along in real life too.

This July 4^th, State of Firsts reminds us that independence is for everyone.

“In following McBride’s campaign, Joynt confidently transitions from the highly stylised modes of his previous works. “ – Pat Mullen, POV.

“McBride’s grace, steadfastness, and perseverance are the stuff of true heroism. Joynt captures this essential moment of LGBTQ+ history with dignity and respect.” – Frank J. Avella, Edge Media Network.

‘Peter Asher’: The Man Behind the Music

June 17, 2026 by Lamb Laemmle 1 Comment

For many music fans, Peter Asher is one of those names that seems to appear everywhere once you start paying attention. A member of the British Invasion duo Peter & Gordon, head of A&R for the Beatles’ Apple Records, producer of landmark albums from James Taylor to Linda Ronstadt, and a trusted collaborator to generations of artists, Asher has spent more than six decades helping shape popular music from both center stage and behind the scenes.

The new documentary Peter Asher: Everywhere Man traces that remarkable career, revealing how one seemingly modest figure repeatedly found himself at pivotal moments in music history. Helmed by Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller, the film combines archival footage, contemporary interviews, and performances from Asher’s acclaimed live storytelling show to create a portrait of a life that often feels stupefyingly interconnected.

Tune into Inside the Arthouse to hear co-directors Goldfine and Geller discuss their fascinating new release with co-hosts Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge, or catch it in theaters beginning with a special Q&A on June 22nd at the Laemmle Royal.

Asher’s story begins in an unusually artistic household in London. His sister Jane Asher’s relationship with Paul McCartney brought the Beatles directly into the family orbit, with McCartney at one point living in the Ashers’ home. Numerous songs that would become part of popular music history were written there, and the documentary delights in recounting how Peter found himself witnessing events that would later seem legendary.

Yet Everywhere Man makes clear that Asher was never merely a bystander. As one half of Peter & Gordon, he scored international hits, including “A World Without Love,” a Lennon-McCartney composition that topped charts on both sides of the Atlantic. Later, as an executive at Apple Records, he signed a young James Taylor, beginning a partnership that would help define the singer-songwriter boom of the 1970s.

The documentary is particularly compelling when examining Asher’s influence as a producer and manager. Working with Taylor, Carole King, Linda Ronstadt, and many others, he helped shape the polished California sound that dominated popular music throughout the decade. Along the way, he pushed for greater recognition of studio musicians, insisting that the talented players behind classic recordings receive proper credit on album sleeves—a practice that seems obvious today but was far from standard at the time.

What emerges is not simply a history of one career, but a tour through several eras of popular music, featuring everyone from the Beatles and Marianne Faithfull to Elton John, Diana Ross, and Randy Newman. The result is an entertaining and affectionate documentary about a man whose influence extends far beyond the spotlight. Even viewers who don’t immediately recognize Peter Asher’s name may discover that they already know much of the music—not to mention the stories—that he helped usher into the world.

“The pleasure of Everywhere Man is that every time you think you’ve seen the wildest piece of Peter Asher adjacency, the next chapter proves you wrong.” – Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter

“[The] film does an amazing job tracking the arc of a career of an artist who was really just about everywhere.” – Brad Auerbach, Entertainment Today

The First Artists: Herzog’s ‘Cave of Forgotten Dreams’

June 2, 2026 by Lamb Laemmle Leave a Comment

There are few filmmakers better suited than Werner Herzog to stand before humanity’s oldest known artworks and ask what, exactly, they mean. Across documentaries like Grizzly Man and Encounters at the End of the World, Herzog has spent decades pursuing people and places that seem to exist at the fringes of ordinary experience. With Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010), he turns his attention backward across tens of thousands of years, descending into the Chauvet Cave in southern France to confront some of the earliest surviving expressions of human imagination.

Catch Cave of Forgotten Dreams in its triumphant return to theaters, shown in 3D from June 5-11th at the Laemmle Glendale.

Discovered in 1994 and ordinarily closed to the public, the Chauvet Cave contains paintings estimated to be more than 30,000 years old: rhinoceroses, horses, lions, bison, mammoths, and other animals sketched across stone walls with astonishing sophistication. Herzog and a tiny film crew were granted rare access to the cave, resulting in a documentary that feels less like a conventional history lesson than an encounter with something profoundly uncanny. The cave becomes, in Herzog’s hands, not merely an archaeological site but a kind of lost cathedral, suspended outside ordinary time.

The decision to film in 3D proves especially inspired. Rather than using the format for spectacle, Herzog employs it to emphasize the contours and textures of the cave walls themselves, revealing how the ancient artists incorporated the natural curvature of the rock into their drawings. The paintings seem almost to move as the camera glides past them, lending weight to Herzog’s suggestion that these images function as a kind of “proto-cinema,” like an attempt to capture motion long before the invention of film itself.

As always, Herzog’s unmistakable narration hovers somewhere between philosophical inquiry, deadpan comedy, and cosmic bewilderment. He approaches the cave with genuine awe, but also with the peculiar curiosity that has long defined his documentaries. As archaeologists, paleontologists, and art historians offer technical insights into the methods and possible meanings behind the paintings, Herzog repeatedly nudges the discussion toward stranger and more existential territory. What does it mean that human beings, so early in recorded history, already felt compelled to create images like these? Were the paintings artistic, spiritual, communal, or something else entirely that modern language cannot adequately describe?

What emerges is not a film interested in providing definitive answers so much as one fascinated by the persistence of mystery itself. Herzog treats the cave less as a puzzle to be solved than as a prototype of that same inclination toward storytelling, symbolism, and image-making that still defines human culture today.

Few documentaries inspire awe quite this naturally. Seen in 3D, Cave of Forgotten Dreams becomes something increasingly rare: a film that genuinely expands one’s sense of human history, while quietly reminding us how much remains unknowable.

“As usual, human progress gets the sublimely absurd Herzogian treatment.” – Eric Kohn, IndieWire

“The Chauvet cave is a lost cathedral, and Herzog’s film responds with subdued passion to its profound mystery.” – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian