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When Chaz Ebert came onstage to present Baraka, the last film of this year’s Ebertfest, she expressed surprise that so many people were there on the last day. She thanked everyone for making this year’s Ebertfest so much fun for Roger. “He was smiling from ear to ear the whole time,” she said.

Chaz also announced that the Alloy Orchestra, who did the music for Friday afternoon’s showing of The Last Command, will come back next year with their score to The Man with His Movie Camera. She reminded everyone that even though Roger chooses the films, they like to hear people’s suggestions, too.

With that, Roger came out to introduce the “supreme visual experience” that is Baraka. After telling everyone to hike over to Boardman’s to see Gomorrah, he complimented director Ron Fricke and producer Mark Magidson on their “meticulous filmmaking.”

“This film shows that movies not only entertain, they enlarge, challenge, and open new windows into the world,” Ebert said via the British voice on his computer. Fricke, in turn, thanked Roger for having such good taste. With that, Baraka began.

Every word Roger said was true. A 96 minute movie with zero dialogue and no plot doesn’t sound appealing, but it is the most visually stunning film I’ve ever seen. It was presented in 70 mm, and the images were so crisp that I felt like I was in the film. They shot over a period of three years, and it seems like every place on Earth is represented. My favorite shot was of a lake so clear that it was impossible to tell the difference between the water and the sky. There was another particularly funny sequence that contrasted shots of baby chicks being sorted in a factory and shots of humans being herded into and out of trains. There are no real characters, but all of Earth’s inhabitants stand in as characters. There are city folks bustling, factory workers rolling cigarettes and Indonesian fathers and sons doing a rhythmic monkey dance. As different as all the images are, they all feel connected.

After the film, Fricke and Magidson came out as panelists along with Woodstock director Michael Wadleigh and Sun-Times columnist Andy Ihnatko. Wadleigh kept talking about an alien predicting doom for Earth if we don’t help it, and I wished I knew why he was talking about aliens. I still haven’t figured it out, but his concern for conserving Earth’s natural resources was clear. Fricke and Magidson expressed similar sentiments.

“We’re at a crossroads. The moral of Baraka, if there is any, is there’s a good snow monkey in all of us. We’ll make the right decisions. We’re spiritual beings first,” Fricke said. He and Magidson said that the film is about our impact on the planet and its impact on us. When asked what the word “Baraka” means, they explained that it’s a Middle Eastern word meaning an in-dwelling spiritual force, a concept which can be found in almost all religions. Their next project, which they’ve already been shooting for two years, will deal with all of the world’s religions.

Baraka was a fantastic way to end Ebertfest. The Virginia Theatre’s huge screen was perfect for a film of such scope, and the Q & A afterwards was as informative as it was hilarious. Even better was the standing ovation to Roger Ebert at the end. Here’s hoping for an equally awesome Ebertfest next year.