EXPANSIVE ECOLOGICAL IMAGINATION 1 (w/kalmia traver)
A program of short films from around the living world to expand our ecological imaginations—featuring a live performance by Kalmia Traver (Rubblebucket, Kalbells)
Thursday, March 26, 2026 | 7:30 p.m. | The Hollywood Theatre
Sponsored by SOLVE
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(More information about each film follows.)
THE OCTOPUS
Directed by Jean Painlevé
1928 | France | 13 minutes
Featuring an original live score written and performed by Kalmia Traver (Rubblebucket, Kalbells)
Revered as a masterpiece from the early days of nature filmmaking, THE OCTOPUS is a powerful example and experiment in the field of popular science that shows attempts to demonstrate scientific knowledge through aesthetic means. Since German zoologist, naturalist and artist Ernst Haeckel (1834–1919), the role of art in communicating science has been to evoke feelings of wonder and connectedness that reach a wider audience than the description of mere scientific facts. Jean Painlevé’s octopus can therefore be understood in a double sense: as a biological being that can provide insights into the specific behavior of a marine life [and] as a symbol of an ecological concept that links humans, non-humans and their surroundings. Ecological philosophy in times of climate crisis points to this very idea of interspecies connectedness and asks what it might mean for a more respectful and less human-centred approach to nature when it is understood as a network of different human and [more-than-human] entities. (Jutta Wiens and Anne Hemkendreis)
AKABABURU: EXPRESSION OF ASTONISHMENT
Directed by Irati Dojura Landa Yagarí
2025 | Colombia | 14 minutes
Emberá Chamí and Spanish with English subtitles
Official Selection | Indigenous Voices | West Coast Premiere
Kari, an indigenous girl who is afraid to laugh, meets Kera, who shares with her the myth of Kiraparamia, a woman punished by the gods for laughing at her husband. Together, they discover that laughter actually set Kiraparamia free and restored her essential bond to nature.
AL BASATEEN (THE ORCHARDS)
Directed by Antoine Chapon
2025 | France | 25 minutes
Arabic with English subtitles
Official Selection | Regional Premiere
In 2015, the Basateen al-Razi district of Damascus was razed to the ground as punishment for the population's uprising against Bashar al-Assad's regime. This area is set to be replaced by Marota City, a modern and connected district featuring 80 skyscrapers. Ten years on, two former residents talk about their neighborhood, where their homes and the oldest orchards in Damascus once stood. Having lost everything, two former residents recall their neighborhood, where their homes and the city's oldest orchards once stood. Through their testimonies and the repurposing of regime-produced 3D animations, memory is awakened to resist this deliberate erasure.
BALCONADA
Directed by Iva Tokmakchieva
2025 | Bulgaria | 8 minutes
Official Selection | West Coast Premiere
When a hot summer day brings several neighbors out onto their balconies, Mother Nature finds a way to awaken them from their torpor and reconnect them to each other and the present moment.
DISTANCE TO THE MOON
Directed by Victoria Watson and Sacha Kyle
2025 | United Kingdom | 9 minutes
Official Selection | West Coast Premiere
X leaves a desolate Earth to embark, reluctantly, on a surreal and mesmerising journey into the vastness of space. There, X explores existential isolation, connection, memory, loss, and the profound power of the cosmos.
EARTH WORSHIP
Directed by Haoyan of America
2022 | USA | 4 minutes
This very rare big screen presentation of the fabulous EARTH WORSHIP music video celebrates our collaboration with Rubblebucket and Kalmia Traver on this program and our Global Ecological Cinema Podcast.
