Blurring the line between documentary and video art, Behemoth (excerpted above) sees maverick director Zhao Liang tour Inner Mongolia’s coal mines and iron works with camera in hand, capturing footage of the destruction of the area’s natural grasslands at the hands of an ever-expanding mining industry. Absent of dialogue and largely silent—aside from ear-shattering explosions—the film comes with an underlying conservational message.

Zhao Liang's film Behemoth shows at Frames of Representation Festival on April 26, 2016.