RPFF Short Films - Nature’s Love

Nature’s love is the kind of love that brings forth and sustains life. It is constant, unconditional, and is not interrupted by the darkness of humanity. These films reflect on ways in which people reciprocate nature’s love.

PROGRAMME:

(UN)EARTHING ~ PLANT KNOWLEDGE AND DREAMS
Louise Boer, UK, 9 min.

Ambient dream journey; recalling memories and personal stories of healing with plants. A lot of the once common knowledge around medicinal plants has gone lost through the violent processes of capitalism, church and colonialism, disproportionately affecting women. Therefore, remembering, reclaiming and sharing this knowledge is a personal as well as a political act. By meeting and using local, widely available plants, often labelled as ‘weeds’, we can take control over our own health, as well as the health of society and the environment in order to heal and re-enchant the world.

PEPEDRILO
Victor Cartas, MX, 20 min.

Pepedrilo and his peculiar connection with nature are embodied by the care and protection of a crocodile sanctuary, whose stability is put in danger day by day by the threat of men.

MUTSOÓNGO MALAÁVU
Rosa Vieira, BR, 19 min.

The film shows the heart of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where palm wine tapsters play a key role in the social life of the Yoómbe people. They climb oil palm trees to extract this ancient drink to share among family and friends in the villages.

GOAT BREAKFAST
Vanessa Wijngaarden, Paulo Ngulupa, DE, 30 min.

Set in the lands of Tanzanian volcano Meru, an area increasingly affected by drought due to climate change. Young Maasai Paulo must find creative ways to feed his first son, who just learned to walk. As his goats lack milk, even for their own babies, he sets out into the dust every morning in search of breakfast. This hopeful, tender film highlights the interspecies relationality and more-than-human entanglements involved, providing an entry into multisensual, multilingual and multispecies ways of knowing.