"The Arc of Oblivion", A Film Screening and Q&A with Director Ian Cheney

New York Times Critic’s Pick The Arc of Oblivion explores a quirk of humankind: in a universe that erases its tracks, we humans are hellbent on leaving a trace. Set against the backdrop of the filmmaker's quixotic quest to build an ark in a field in Maine, the film heads far afield – to salt mines in the Alps, fjords in the Arctic, and ancient libraries in the Sahara – to illuminate the strange world of archives, record-keeping, and memory. Playfully weaving stop-motion animation, spellbinding cinematography and fascinating interviews from the director's inner circle and experts in the fields of science, culture and art – including documentarians Werner Herzog and Kirsten Johnson – The Arc of Oblivion reveals how nature inspires the human drive behind filmmaking.

“Cheney unearths something beautiful: We want to remember not just ourselves, but other people … He sees this as hopeful, a core part of what it really means to be human,” according to the New York Times.

Host or Publisher Yale Peabody Museum and New Haven Museum