ROOTS

ROOTS is a short experimental film that explores Amazonian cosmologies, person-plant relations and ecopsychology via the Tikuna creation myth. The myth describes the Ceiba pentandra tree being felled by twins Yoi and Ipi to bring light and life to the world. They later create the first humans from the huito fruit (Genipa Americana).

Recordings of the Ceiba in the Amazon rainforest were taken using a device that measures biodata — electromagnetic fluctuations between the leaves of plants — and converts them into MIDI code. Sound designer Imka analysed the recording as being in the tone of A minor, and using this scale added a compilation of real and virtual instruments, with handmade automation for pressure, pitch slide, attack, release and sustain, to control the notes being printed in real time.

This was integrated with audio recordings of Abel Santos narrating the Tikuna myth — Imka using plant-based extensions to convey a representation of the shared life force, known in Tikuna as du-ügü, of people and plants: huito fruit and human heart.

XIBALBA

XIBALBA is a short experimental film exploring the intelligence of organic matter, panspermia and the relationship between homo sapiens and the Other through Mayan myth and ritual and the underworld labyrinth Xibalba.

A microbial presence travels from the furthest reaches of our solar system, entering Earth’s atmosphere as the meteorite responsible for ending the dinosaur era. Whilst its arrival causes great destruction, it also heralds new life forms and a new level of consciousness, seeding the potential for human life. The cenotes — water-filled sinkholes formed from limestone erosion — represent this cataclysmic event and the literal erosion of time, and were seen by the Maya as portals to the underworld, Xibalba.

A Mayan girl performs a bloodletting ceremony, assisted by entheogens, to appease the water god and envisions a future where drought prevails on Earth. The soundtrack is composed by Oli Bayston using a combination of entheogenic plant frequencies, including psilocybin (magic mushrooms) and Banisteriopsis caapi (ayahuasca vine).