“It's the nearest thing yet to a genuine political science-fiction movie. Brilliantly original, utterly haunting.” - Time Out

Filmmaker Werner Herzog describes Fata Morgana as “a documentary shot by extraterrestrials from the Andromeda Nebula, and left behind”. It was actually shot in the desolate expanse of the Sahara - with Herzog's alien fantasies conceptualised more pronouncedly in later films such as Wild Blue Yonder (MIFF 06).

In simplest terms, Fata Morgana is a documentary of sorts that looks at Saharan mirages and the people who inhabit in the area. Non-narrative in structure, with its hypnotic imagery accompanied by the simple recitation of the Mayan creation myth read by Lotte Eisner, Fata Morgana (meaning ‘mirage') is as compelling as it is baffling; a complete blurring of the line between fiction and fact.

Features music by Leonard Cohen.