Pauline Julier

In 17th-century Europe, Alejandro, a young Spanish nobleman, is tasked with delivering the portrait of the Infanta of Spain to Louis XIV, still a child. It is intended to seal the alliance between the two crowns. Fascinated by the promises of the New World, lands to be conquered and new trade routes to be opened, Alejandro is escorted by two French soldiers. As the portrait advances, the trio descend deeper into a Europe ravaged by wars and uprisings. The journey to the French court is long and arduous, and the path back to civilization and the modern world emerging remains uncertain.

The film begins with a volcanic eruption that stranded the director, Pauline Julier, in a foreign city, among strangers. In turns, these strangers evoke legends about the formation of the continents, the blooming of the tectonic plates or the explosion of ash that provoked summers without sun.

The Future Circular Collider is the machine of the future. Thanks to it, we will finally be able to go back in time to the origin of our universe. But which way do we go to set up the largest scientific instrument of all time? Between metaphysics and underground tunnels, a story of the preparations or how men are ready to move mountains for more knowledge.

Winter 2021, Atacama Desert, Chile. Around one of the largest lithium mines in the world, several protagonists tell of their attachment to this territory. The commitment of an indigenous woman for water rights, the doubts of scientists exploring the desert as an analogue to Mars, the belief of industrialists, the ghosts of colonisation and the stories of new explorers collide.