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On Koyaanisqatsi PDF Print E-mail
«Since its premiere in 1983, Koyaanisqatsi has assumed the stature of a modern film classic. Godfrey and I worked over a period of three years assembling the image and music of Koyaanisqatsi. This is a collaboration of film and music that is unprecedented in its intensity».   
Philip Glass

KO-YAA-NIS-KATSI (from the Hopi language)
n. 1. Crazy life.  2. Life in turmoil. 3. Life disintegrating.  4. Life out of balance.  5. A state of life that calls for another way of living.
Koyaanisqatsi was conceived in 1974 as a non-verbal film integrating images, music and ideas. There is no plot, no actors and no dialogue except that between the viewer and the film. Created for a worldwide audience, Koyaanisqatsi conveys its message entirely through the universal language of image and sound requiring no translation. This intense collaboration resulted in a motion picture that forever transformed the unique relationship between music and the moving image. Around the world, filmmakers, video artists, and photographers as well as composers and musicians from classical to rock credit Koyaanisqatsi as a pivotal influence in shaping a new and unforgettable language.

«Koyaanisqatsi is not so much about something, nor does it have a specific meaning or value. Koyaanisqatsi is, after all, an animated object, an object in moving time, the meaning of which is up to the viewer. Art has no intrinsic meaning. This is its power, its mystery, and hence, its attraction. Art is free. It stimulates the viewer to insert their own meaning, their own value. So while I might have this or that intention in creating this film, I realize fully that any meaning or value Koyaanisqatsi might have comes exclusively from the beholder. The film’s role is to provoke, to raise questions that only the audience can answer. This is the highest value of any work of art, not predetermined meaning, but meaning gleaned from the experience of the encounter. The encounter is my interest, not the meaning. If meaning is the point, then propaganda and advertising is the form. So in the sense of art, the meaning of Koyaanisqatsi is whatever you wish to make of it. This is its power».   
Godfrey Reggio

After its North American premiere at Radio City Music Hall in 1983, Koyaanisqatsi won the Audience Award for Best First Feature Film at Filmex and Philip Glass’ score was voted Best Original Film Score by the Los Angeles Film Critics. Koyaanisqatsi has been presented at prominent arts and film festivals throughout the world, garnering Best Film at the Sao Paulo Film Festival, The Critics Award at the Lisbon Film Festival and the City of Madrid Award at the Madrid Film Festival.