The Salt of the Earth
2014 · Movie · PG-13 · 110 min · ★ 8.1 · 89% critics
A renowned photographer looks back on decades spent documenting humanity across continents, from conflict and displacement to everyday resilience. As the journey shifts toward remote landscapes and wildlife, the film reflects on what these images reveal about people, the planet, and the cost of witnessing it all.
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Details
- Original title
- Le sel de la terre
- Years
- 2014
- Release date
- 2014-08-29
- Language
- French
- Rated
- PG-13
- Runtime
- 110 min
- Critic score
- 89/100
- TMDB rating
- 8.1/10 (681 votes)
About
You’ll likely enjoy this if you want a moving, globe-spanning documentary built around powerful photography and big questions about humanity and nature; Not for you if you avoid bleak real-world suffering or prefer lighter docs like Senna.
Pros: unforgettable photographs; sweeping world history; hopeful environmental turn | Cons: heavy subject matter; can feel long; subject stays distant
Themes
- human vs nature
- photographer
- exodus
- slavery
- photographic evidence
- combat photography
- cultural conflict
- starvation
- shocking
- humanity
- slave labor
- wildlife photographer
- +11 more
Awards & recognition
- Tromsø International Film Festival's audience award · 2015
- Audience Award of the San Sebastián International Film Festival · 2014
- Academy Award — Best Documentary Feature Film · 2015 · nominated
- European Film Award – People's Choice Award — Best European Film · 2015 · nominated
Cast & crew
Sebastião Salgado
as Self
Wim Wenders
as Self
Juliano Ribeiro Salgado
as Self
- HB
Hugo Barbier
as Self
Lélia Wanick Salgado
as Self
- JB
Jacques Barthélémy
as Self
- RM
Régis Muller
as Self
- JM
João Pessoa Mattos
as Self
- LM
Leny Wanick Mattos
as Self
- MB
Maria Teresa Salgado Rocha Bastos
as Self
Directed by Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado