Searching for superbug cures in the salt flats of the Atacama Desert
Antibiotics transformed modern medicine, making infections that once killed into conditions that could often be treated quickly and safely. But that achievement is now under threat. As bacteria evolve resistance to the drugs designed to destroy them, once-reliable treatments are losing their power, with projections warning that antibiotic-resistant infections could cause tens of millions of deaths between 2024 and 2050.
In Life Invisible, the Chilean filmmakers Bettina Perut and Iván Osnovikoff follow scientist Cristina Dorador into the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth, as she searches its salt flats for microbes that might help answer the superbug crisis. Yet the same fragile landscape that may hold medical promise is being transformed by lithium extraction, driven in part by global demand for batteries and green technologies. Set between Dorador’s careful scientific work and the immense, otherworldly beauty of the desert, the film becomes a meditation on discovery, extraction and the delicate life hidden in places that can appear almost empty.
Directors: Bettina Perut, Iván Osnovikoff
Producers: Harri Grace, Paul King
Website: Guardian Documentaries, Perut+Osnovikoff
