Baraka

Baraka (1992) is Ron Fricke's wordless documentary, and you can watch it online on iFILM. Ninety-odd minutes shot across six continents, with no narration, no dialogue and no captions — image and music carry everything.

Fricke, the cinematographer behind Koyaanisqatsi, took his camera to roughly two dozen countries and shot it all on 70mm film: cliffside monasteries and burning oil fields, dawn prayer and Tokyo rush hour, tribal ceremonies and the silent ruins of death camps. The film cuts not by plot but by rhythm and visual rhyme — how people live, worship, tear down and rebuild. One shot lingers on a single face; the next races a city into a blur of light.

The title means "blessing" in several languages, and the movie behaves like a meditation rather than a report. It asks for silence, a big screen and your full attention; half-watched, it gives back almost nothing. Best with good sound and good picture. Stream Baraka (1992) online on iFILM.