The Salt of the Earth

This evocative, Oscar-nominated documentary pays tribute to Sebastiao Salgado, the celebrated Brazilian photographer who has been travelling around the world for the last 40 years. During this time, he has witnessed his fair share of human suffering, having documented the devastating effects of starvation, poverty, war, displacement and genocide. As you might expect, the film is filled with images of his photographic work, which are accompanied by detailed commentary from the man himself. Despite this, however, we learn very little about his working methods - how he composed his shots, what it took to get them - while the film occasionally feels like an extended slideshow. That said, it is extremely moving in places, and some of the monochrome pictures are genuinely breathtaking. The Salt of the Earth certainly won't be for everyone, but it offers a haunting, reflective, thought-provoking portrait of a remarkable individual.