GFF 2011: Cave of Forgotten Dreams

3D is widely seen as the cinematic tool of the future, so trust Werner Herzog to take it into the past. Cave of Forgotten Dreams is the mercurial German's first film in three dimensions, and while the effect is a little wobbly in spots, it pays glorious dividends when he ventures into the depths of the Chauvet Cave, bringing 30,000 year-old cave paintings to vivid life.

The director's customary voiceover imbues the images with depth and meaning too, with Herzog suggesting that this cave was "where the modern human soul was awakened", and he has assembled a typically eccentric group of participants to guide him along the dark and narrow path. There's a scientist who used to perform in the circus, a perfumer who explores the cave by smelling the rocks, and by the time the nuclear crocodiles have shown up you'll have long realised that nobody but Werner Herzog could have made Cave of Forgotten Dreams. May he long continue to explore such unchartered territory and tell extraordinary stories in his own inimitable fashion.