Cave of Forgotten Dreams

For more than 20,000 years, Chauvet Cave was sealed by a rock slide - and with it, crystal-encrusted interiors the size of a soccer field, littered with the fossilized remains of giant Ice Age mammals. In 1994, researchers discovered the grottoes and found hundreds of pristine paintings inside, their spectacular depictions more than 30,000 years old (nearly twice as old as previous discoveries). They date from a time when Neanderthals still roamed the earth and cave bears, mammoths and Ice Age lions were the dominant species in Europe. Since then, few people have gained access to Chauvet Cave, and so the true dimensions of its treasures have largely escaped the public eye - until Werner Herzog was allowed to enter the rooms. Herzog's photographs capture the magic and beauty of one of the most awe-inspiring places on earth, while philosophizing in his own distinctive way about its original inhabitants, the birth of art, and the strange people surrounding the cave.