Into the Okavango

The autumn landscape on glass in an office, virtual 3D tropical motifs or static palm trees in a dentist’s waiting room. This original collage of motionless simulations of the outside world, accompanied by an authentic mix of sounds, uses ironic imagery to explore the role of depictions of nature in relaxing the inhabitants of overtechnologised urban centres.

The question is not whether we have to change, but whether we are taking the necessary steps quickly enough. Renewable energy or nuclear? Neither the people nor the politicians can make up their minds. The ice is melting. Trump is calling people back to the coal mines. All this is shown against the backdrop of a “green tour” by former Vice President Al Gore of the USA, who calls for a revolution before the deluge comes.

This observational film essay on our relations with the natural wealth is based on a real event and seed banks storing quantities of seeds of various plants in case of a global catastrophe. The film documents three places with different traditions related to the land – Aleppo, Lebanon, and Svalbard.

The human approach has brought the planet Earth to a borderline called sixth mass extinction by scientists. Along with contemporary philosophies of thinkers such as Timothy Morton, calling for a radical change of the human relationship to the nature, the alarming fact has roused three documentarians to create a film that would be completely different from all the films showing beautiful landscapes and animals and would rather focus on everything that has been destroying this beauty. The suggestive shots of the places from all around the world that are most affected by extractions and industry serve as a proof of human short-sightedness and together with the highly-informative and brooding voice-over, they call for a last-minute change. “Sometimes you need to go up in the sky to convey place, but if you stay up there all the time, you float away from what is meaningful.” E. Burtynsky, J. Baichwal, N. de Pencier   

This philosophical film-essay explores the relationship between man and nature through long scenes of the mountainous landscape of the American West. A quiet meditation on the imperfect perception of reality, the search for the meaning of life, and finding harmony in the world around us, accompanied by a voiceover of the filmmakers’ views and philosophical commentary. 

In his project “Fragments of Extinction”, composer and researcher David Monacchi explores the landscape of the Amazon rainforest using audio recordings. The audiovisual symbiosis of natural still-lifes and three-dimensional audio landscapes makes his calls for preserving local biodiversity all the more believable and urgent.

This short film with a clear moral message looks at the illegal activities of the activist group known as Empty Cages, which liberates animals from inhuman living conditions at large factory farms. The filmmaker compares the activists’ viewpoint with the opinions of the people around them and encourages us to consider what value society places on the lives of animals.

They call it Sodom. A hell for people. A paradise for business. The world’s biggest dump of electronic waste is teeming with noises of people working. They rummage, collect, recover and burn down. An impressive apocalyptic tableau on meticulous work within a new economic segment. A disconcerting testimony on life conditions.

An alternative history of Czechoslovakia, this five-part TV series explores the evolution of the environmental movement since the 1950s and how it negotiated its position with the communist regime. This unknown story comes alive through protagonists who were direct participants in the events – and co-authors of the revolution, whether consciously or not.A Testimony on Nature - Out of competition

Spectacular images show several mining sites in Europe and North America. The relief-like terrain created by heaving machinery shows that man is changing the world like to other species before. Interviewed by the camera, the workers describe the pragmatic reasons for mining and they joy they feel from their work, but also reflect on their negative impacts on life on Earth. The interviews are made more powerful by seemingly neutral static shots of the changing landscape. The fascinating spectacle resembling a work of abstract art lays bare the unparalleled facts of life in this new wasteland and remind us of the consequences our planet suffers because of our modern way of life. “If we regard the Earth as an organism, then the Earth's crust - its skin which is its most delicate organ. I wanted to take a closer look at the wounds we are inflicting upon the Earth.” N. Geyrhalter     

Can animals defend their rights in court? Symbolic film sequences frame philosophical and cultural-historical searching for the roots of today’s position of farm animals as products of the food industry and the attempt to give them equal rights in the context of new scientific discoveries and political struggles in the EU.

In 2017, climate change was the theme of all exhibitions by two Swedish artists. The film, which maps their annual tour around the world, combines educational moments with the observation of the common life of both artists. Shots of their installations and objects act as alienating effect that enhances the relevance of the global theme.