What do we talk about when we talk about archives? Pretty much everything! At least, that’s the case in THE ARC OF OBLIVION, Ian Cheney‘s profoundly inquisitive, intellectually far-roaming exploration of memory, record-keeping and humanity’s never-ending quest for relevance and meaning in a world where everything is constantly slipping away.

The filmmaker (THE MOST UNKNOWN, THE CITY DARK, THE SEARCH FOR GENERAL TSO) takes a discursive path through multiple topics and places—from salt mines to fjords—all the while constructing an actual ark in a field in Maine. Fans of executive producer Werner Herzog‘s nonfiction jaunts will find a kindred spirit here.