★

In his vertiginous, colossal work, ★, Austrian film maker Johann Lurf gathers together imagery from 550 films throughout the history of cinema, extracting only those sequences that depict the star-filled nighttime sky. The resulting cinematic journey is truly transcendental. It may sound serene and contemplative, but because many of these celestial images are a mere split second long, ★ is a fast-paced, even kinetic cinematic experience, psychedelic to the core.

This is as much a sonic collage as a visual one, conjuring up an entire world of off-screen space and narrative traces. If ★’s gaze is away from the earth, it sheds as much light on matters political, social, cultural, and historical as celestial, it tells a fascinating story about the gradual shifting of human perspectives, intellectual and artistic ideas, gender codes, and technological tools. Reminiscent of Christian Marclay’s The Clock, ★ transforms into a great romantic journey that is mesmerizing, cosmic and completely spaced out…