Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.

Have you ever stared at the night sky and the stars and planets up there? What does it mean and how does it relate to our lives?

A new documentary premiering next Friday looks at the skies above the Atacama desert in northern Chile, the scientists and astronomers who observe them, and the people born there and who live beneath them.

It explores the filmmaker’s personal impression and interactions with the people she meets. It’s an astronomical, spiritual, anthropological look at life in a desert beneath the vast bright stars.

The film is called Cielo, and its filmmaker is Alison McAlpine. Alison’s award-winning and critically acclaimed documentaries have played at film festivals around the world.

I spoke to Alison McAlpine in Montreal by telephone from CIUT 89.5 FM in Toronto.

Cielo opens in Toronto on Friday, August 10.