ECO EXPERIMENTS: Films in this session employ creativity and experimental storytelling to delve deeply into nature and environmental topics.
Sponsored by Farmers Insurance, Bad Goat Forest, Western Cider, Topo Real Estate, and American Prairie.
LOSING BLUE - dir. Leanne Allison
What does it mean to lose a color? LOSING BLUE is a cinematic poem about losing the otherworldly blues of ancient mountain lakes, now fading due to climate change. With stunning cinematography, this short documentary immerses the viewer in the magnificence of these rare lakes, pulling us in to witness their power and understand what their loss would mean both for ourselves and for the Earth.
PRIPYAT HORSE - dir. Sally Patricia Pearce
"A sparrow flies swiftly in through one door of the hall, and out through another…. Even so, man appears on earth for a little while; but of what went before this life or of what follows, we know nothing." -- Bede
A moment for mourning, for a friend, for the earth.
SILENT CHIRPING OF INVISIBLE DIGITS - dir. Vera Sebert
Like a single film frame, insects flash for the fraction of a second, only to immediately withdraw from the field of vision again. In between their flickering body fragments, the film shows undefiniable voids. What can be seen when familiar filters of vision and the narratives associated with them are missing?
THE HALCYON DAYS - dir. Robin Fisher
THE HALCYON DAYS follows the intimate lives of kingfishers as they struggle to raise a family. The film focuses on the journey of a female kingfisher as she must deal with the death of her chicks and raise another family before the season ends.
MODERN GOOSE - dir. Karsten Wall
Able to navigate by reading the Earth’s magnetic field, equally at home on land, air, and water, geese straddle the territory between ancient instincts and the contemporary world. Combining beauty, humor, and profound empathy, director Karsten Wall’s exquisitely observed film essay explores the daily life of these iconic animals to convey a deeper message of continuity and connection.
SLOW SHIFT - dir. Shambhavi Kaul
In SLOW SHIFT, humans, animals, music, and rock are entangled in dialogue. The film is shot in Hampi, India, in the remains of a 14th century city. This city, strewn with ancient ruins and massive boulders, is also said to be the monkey kingdom of ancient lore. Currently, the site is overrun with langurs, a genus of monkeys native to the subcontinent. The film playfully interrogates various intersections between ancient and geological timescales, the real and mythic, the lived and preserved, the human and animal.
WARNING: This film contains flashing lights which may not be suitable for photosensitive epilepsy.