Arabic with English subtitles

French-Algerian filmmaker Dania Reymond stages a meta-fiction in a tropical-like park in Algiers, known as Le Jardin d’Essai, built in the late 19th century under French occupation. Conceived as a “model garden,” the botanical endeavor was a way to test local agricultural techniques and observe plant adaptation and species growth. Reymond’s eponymous film gently unsettles the colonial narrative embedded in this landscape by focusing her lens on a group of young Algerians led by a filmmaker in crisis. The usual tribulations of a middle-aged artist – questioning how to convey political engagement without compromising the magical encounter with an acting troupe – lead to a number of delicate scenes where desire, transformation, and epiphany intertwine.

• Sektion Section: Film
• Programm Programme: Adorable Incendiary Bodies