Daughters of the Forest: Mycelium Chronicles
The mushrooms speak in this inventive sci-fi documentary that follows indigenous female mycologists as they document and preserve the intricate bonds between humans and fungi.
Description
Tangled networks spread through the forest floor, connecting plants, humans, and fungi in an inseparable web of coexistence. In the forests of Mexico, mycologists Eliseete and Julieta are working to document and preserve their communities’ long-held symbiosis with the mushrooms that grow around them, a project grown more urgent in the face of continued environmental destruction and cultural loss. From decay comes life, and in this debut feature, director Otilia Portillo Padua weaves together the scientists’ hopes, dreams, and work with immersive interludes that dive into the depths of the forest to give voice to the mushrooms themselves. Through this dreamlike meditation on interconnectedness and shared fates that occupies a unique space between documentary and science fiction, Daughters of the Forest: Mycelium Chronicles presents not a story of devastation, but an attainable dream of a more thriving future. —Amber Love
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Biographies
Otilia Portillo Padua is a Mexican documentary director. Before turning to filmmaking, she studied architecture at Cambridge University and the Architectural Association, London. Her films include the mid-length Three Voices (2012) and short films Birders (2019) and Chicago Cinema Exchange: Mexico City (2020).
