Koyaanisqatsi

Koyaanisqatsi (1983) is an American documentary film by Godfrey Reggio that you can watch online on iFILM. No dialogue, no narrator — just cinematography by Ron Fricke and a minimalist score composed and performed by Philip Glass specifically for the film.

Reggio spent years crisscrossing the United States with his crew, shooting deserts, canyons, highways and city grids. Fricke used time-lapse and slow-motion to shift scale: a traffic interchange becomes a river, a housing project becomes a circuit board. The title comes from the Hopi language and translates roughly as life out of balance.

Glass toured with his ensemble for years performing the score live in front of the screen, which is partly why the film stayed out of wide distribution for so long. It's the first part of Reggio's Qatsi trilogy. For anyone who has ever wanted a film that operates entirely through rhythm and image — this is the one that started it all. Stream Koyaanisqatsi (1983) online on iFILM.