When Montreal filmmaker Alison McAlpine first noticed a group of donkeys ambling around an observatory in Chile’s Atacama Desert, she couldn’t help but wonder what they were thinking.

Growing up in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, David Noonan was an adventurous teenager. After he turned 18 and graduated from high school, Noonan was eager to spread his wings and see the world. It was 1968, ...