A cinematic essay on swamps as (sur)regional entities

A reflexive cinematic essay delving into the multifaceted nature of swamps as transformational bioregional entities, while also exploring their mythological, political, and cultural significance within our current times. This project entails a journey to several swamp regions, aiming to amplify the diverse voices inhabiting these biomes. Through interviews with scientists, amateur entomologists, activists, poets, thinkers, oral storytellers, and more, alongside the voices of the swamps themselves, a symphony of intertwined narratives emerges.

The project currently focuses on four distinct swamps—Beljarica, Everglades, Atchafalaya, and Guayas—each representing unique yet analogous imaginariums of our age, surrounded or submerged by the vibrant ecosystem of the wetlands. In Beljarica, mythological creatures are entwined with the history now buried under concrete jungles. In the Everglades, a roadside attraction serves as a reminder of the colonial project and its enduring impact on the Americas’ political landscape. In the Atchafalaya we meet both a thinker and an activist relating their own world-visions in relation to a coming apocalypse. In Guayas, a pagan, centuries-old spiritist tradition endures, offering insight into the coexistence of diverse experiences within the same bioregion. Oral storytellers, fishermen, mythmakers interlacing the disparate landscapes they all represent.

Scientific practice, ecological activism, intergenerational fishing practices, subaltern spiritual traditions, and local oral legends are all enriched by the dynamic energies of the swamp, providing entry points that extend beyond our traditional understanding of these environments. Through a speculative experimental documentary format, this project intricately weaves together these diverse narratives, delving into their interconnectedness within the broader context of our world, the implications of our lost futures, and the expansive possibilities of worldbuilding.

Director’s Bio

Jean-Jacques Martinod is a filmmaker, media artist, film curator, abyssal researcher, and clandestine anarchivist.

His work is engaged within extended modes of noetic and intersubjective experience manifest in an ongoing practice of documentary cinema. The human/non-human, folk mythology, anemic memory, sur-regional biomes, hydra techno-logics, relating with living worlds and engaging in poetic mediation within these systems and their extended cohabitant.

Martinod’s work has been showcased in leading festivals, museums and cinematheques, including International Film Festival Rotterdam, FIDMarseille, Sheffield Doc/Fest, Mar del Plata, First Look, PHI Centre Montreal, Cinemateca do MAM Rio de Janeiro, Cinemateca Nacional del Ecuador, Cinemateca de Bogotá, the European Media Arts Festival, among many others. 

DONATIONS ARE TAX-DEDUCTIBLE.   Please note donations made via credit card incur 3% fees.  If that’s something you want to avoid, email [email protected] to set up a wire or bank transfer. Or, checks can be sent to UnionDocs 352 Onderdonk Ave., Ridgewood NY, 11385 (please make it clear it’s for this projectby writing KEMZA on the memo line).