Karel Doing

Forest Song

HD
5 minutes
colour
2022

Screenings:
Glasgow International Film Festival (Glasgow)
Fisura International Festival of Experimental Film & Video (Mexico City)
L'École des Impatiences (Dieppe)

Braziers International Film Festival (Braziers Park)
Engauge Experimental Film Festival (Seattle)

 

After throwing off the yoke of slavery in the 17th and 18th centuries, the Saramaccan Maroons have established a network of independent communities that ignore the border between Suriname and French Guyana. They have combined their African heritage with local knowledge, cleverly adapting to the complex conditions offered by the tropical rainforest. A profound knowledge of plants is a key element within a culture based on mutualism and creative expression. This short film uses a spirited Saramaccan song as a structural principle to briefly explore their rich and powerful way of being in the world.