TREES TROPIQUES
An Experimental Documentary
by Alexander L. Fattal
SYNOPSIS
An observational immersion in life along the waterways where the sweet water of the Amazon basin mixes with the brackish Atlantic Ocean is interrupted by questions about the ethics of including images of deforestation, which could land the protagonist in trouble with the environmental police. The editing waxes experimental bringing the family into the editorial fold and prompting the viewer to revisit prior editorial decisions.
The film ruminates on the global ethics of deforestation as we learn of its symbiotic relationship with harvesting açai berries from the tops of skinny palm trees, Brazil’s latest boom crop that has made it into popular energy drinks and onto Oprah’s diet.
The ecological connections between waterways, flora, fauna, and humanity subtly intertwine confronting viewers with all we are losing in the continual deforestation of the Amazon, and the multiple levels of complicity in that loss.
SPECS
ORIGINAL LANGUAGE
PORTUGUESE
SUBTITLES
ENGLISH
LENGTH
30'
DISTRIBUTION
BERKELEY MEDIA
COUNTRY OF PRODUCTION
BRAZIL
YEAR OF PRODUCTION
2009
SCREENINGS
COLOMBIA
Bogota
Feb 18, 2013
Universidad Nacional de Colombia
GREECE
Athens
Dec 04, 2009
International Students Ethnographic Film Tribute
FRANCE
Paris
Nov 18, 2009
Festival International du Film d'Environnement
Cannes
May 17, 2009
Cannes International Film Festival, Short Film Corner
RUSSIA
Moscow
Sep 30, 2009
Ethno Cinema Days
ITALY
Rome
May 12, 2009
Sapienza University, Dipartimento de Antropologia
SWEDEN
Stockholm
Apr 07, 2009
University of Stockholm
UNITED STATES
Cambridge, MA
Feb 05, 2009
Harvard University, Carpenter Center for Visual Arts