Land of Gold

The film grants audiences a detailed look behind the curtain at the production of and rehearsals for the opera Girls of the Golden West. The opera premiered in San Francisco in 2017 and is the latest collaboration between composer John Adams and director/librettist Peter Sellars. It presents the untold stories of the many Latinos, Blacks and women who joined in the quest for riches during the California Gold Rush in the mid-1800s.

Sellars’ previous collaborations with Adams have included Nixon in China, The Death of Klinghoffer and Doctor Atomic, for which Sellars also wrote the libretto.

The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival followed by the San Francisco International Film Festival.