The Al Gore documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" made a bigger splash in 2006, but in its own way, Jennifer Baichwal’s "Manufactured Landscape" is an equally compelling look at how man is leaving his mark on the environment.

Baichwal followed photographer Edward Burtynsky to several countries where he captured images of massive industrial projects. The opening shot of the film consists of one continuous pan through a manufacturing warehouse in China where rows upon rows of workers in yellow suits perform their assigned tasks. The power of the images that Burtynsky captures in still photographs comes in large part from their scale, and this is true of the film as well. There is nothing in the opening pan that we have not seen before, but as the camera passes each row of workers we think it must be the last. Instead the camera keeps moving and moving and moving until we are slightly dizzy thinking about the immensity of this one factory.

In another scene we see the processing of electronic waste from North America. In conditions that are frightening in their toxicity, workers harvest parts from abandoned and discarded American computers and other electronic devices. The film’s title comes from the observation that humanity has reached the point in which it can create artificial landscapes.

One irony of the film, however, is that Burtynsky’s photographs are often striking in their beauty despite being about disturbing subject matter. The film is not just about its content; it is also about the artistic process. Baichwal’s film is not just Burtynsky’s photographs with movement. It is also a documentary about the artist and his decision-making process.

For example, when Baichwal captures the build up to one of the more well known photos in Burtynsky’s portfolio, the ability to see immediately before and after the image captured by the artist helps us see and understand the talent of the photographer necessary to anticipate and capture just the right moment.

When Baichwal and Burtynsky spoke about the film at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival, some of the questions focused on whether or not art is always political. Given the subject matter of the film, the apparent reluctance during the question-and-answer session to admit that there might be an ideological motivation behind its formation seems puzzling. "Manufactured Landscapes" is less overt in its proselytizing than "An Inconvenient Truth" and less aggressive in tone than a Michael Moore film, but nobody will mistake it for subtle.

Rather than tell the viewer what to think, it shows the viewer some of the environmental and human costs of the lifestyle we have chosen. It may be possible for some viewers to revel in Burtynsky’s images for 90 minutes and not seriously contemplate those costs, but it would be hard for most viewers to not at least pause the next time they go to discard a laptop computer or television.

"Manufactured Landscapes" is available on DVD, but like many films about art or artists it should be seen on the large screen to be fully appreciated. It is playing for one showing only on Sept. 2 at the Galaxy Theater in Cary and is well worth making an effort to see.