Terraforma

IR 2023, 62 min, Kevin Brennan, Laurence Durkin

TerraForma is the story of the remote volcanic island of Ascension, which sat smouldering for a million years largely devoid of life, until its radical transformation by process of 'terraforming' into a tropical paradise.

But there is more to this island than meets the eye. The Victorian naturalists who transformed this island reshaped the ecology to fit the political and economic demands of their society - but only at the expense of what existed before it. The new environment, seemingly a paradise, was in fact a mirage. A mirror image of their ambition, their empire, and their understanding of the world. And as such it was doomed to fail. Many believe that future plans to geo-engineer our planet, or terraform others, would simply follow the same pattern.

With the help of experts in the fields of geo-engineering, ecology, politics, and design, TerraForma explores the lessons we could learn from Ascension Island. And what its story may mean for our planet, in a future where terraformed landscapes and human-engineered environments may come to warp our understanding of 'nature' itself.

festivals

Annual Science New Wave Festival 2023, USA | US Architecture and Design Film Festival 2023 US/CA  | SunChild Festival, 2024, AR | Transmediale, 2024 DE | DOCVILLE - International Documentary Film Festival, 2024 BE | Academia Film Olomouc, 2024 CZ | Architecture & Design Film Festival, 2024 NZ | SHAPESHIFT FESTIVAL, 2024 BG | BelDocs, 2024 RS | Galway Film Fleadh, 2024 IR | SILBERSALZ, 2024 DE | FMD, 2024 EG | ArchFilm, 2024 SE | Auteur Film Festival, 2024 RS | PARISCIENCE, 2024 FR | Zagreb Film Festival, 2025 CR | (Special Screening) Sarajevo Film Festival, 2025 BA | Ljubljana International Film Festival, 2025 SL | Architexture, 2025 IT | BARQ, 2025 ES 

pictures

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