Lost Continent

Three directors collaborated on the Italian documentary Continente Perduto. The lost continent of the title is Asia, specifically Indonesia, here lovingly photographed in Ferraniacolor by Mario Craveri, Giannni Rafaldi and Franco Bernetti. Highlights include a Cantonese wedding aboard a floating junk, the annual wheat and rice harvest, the animal-sacrifice rites at the rim of a volcano, a ceremonial chariot race, and a bevy of Balinese dancers. Though there's no story to speak of, the film has the rhythm and pace of a continuity picture. Continente Perduto was the winner of a Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.