In the space of a single moment, a few rock fragments shine at the bottom of a cave. The beam of light that reveals them then begins to climb through a narrow passage up to the earth’s surface. Before it gets there, it lingers in tunnels and lights up mineral walls that glow blue, green, and fluorescent. This is the beginning of a film by Yuyan Wang, but it could just as well be the very beginning of cinema itself: a light source projected onto the wall of a cave reveals images that, until the…
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