Wild Relatives

Forum 2018

Deep in the earth beneath the Norwegian permafrost, seeds from all over the world are stored in the Global Seed Vault to provide a backup should disaster strike. For the first time ever, seeds held there from a major gene bank in Aleppo are now being replicated, after its holdings were left behind when the institution had to move to Lebanon due to the civil war. It is refugees from Syria who are carrying out this painstaking work in the fields of the Beqaa Valley. In the Levant, dry conditions and the power of global agricultural corporations are the biggest challenge, while in the Arctic Circle – where the seed vault was supposed to withstand anything – it is rising temperatures and melting glaciers.
Wild Relatives loosely links together different narratives and biographies, opening up a space to reflect on biodiversity, resilience, global justice and climate change, as well as disasters caused by human hand and the ambivalent efforts made to overcome them. Beauty and horror lie close together in the Anthropocene, just as they do in this film’s outstanding images.

by Jumana Manna Germany / Lebanon / Norway 2018 Arabic, Norwegian, English 70’ Colour World premiere | Documentary form

Crew

Written and Directed by	Jumana Manna
Cinematography	Marte Vold
Editing	Katrin Ebersohn
Sound Design	Philippe Ciompi
Sound	Rawad Hobeika
Producers	Jumana Manna, Elisabeth Kleppe Adeles

Produced by

Jumana Manna

Aldeles

https://aldeles.no https://aldeles.no

Photos

Jumana Manna

Born in 1987 in Princeton, New Jersey, USA. After studying at the National Academy of Arts in Oslo, she earned a master’s degree in Aesthetics and Politics from the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, Los Angeles County, USA. Her works have been shown in exhibitions around the world.

Filmography

2010 Blessed Blessed Oblivion; 21 min. · The Umpire Whispers; 15 min. 2013 The Goodness Regime; 21 min., co-directed by Sille Storihle 2016 A Magical Substance Flows Into Me; 68 Min., Forum 2017 2018 Wild Relatives

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2018