The Despair of the Monkeys (2022)

The first films of Patagonia - where I grew up - show a territory that no longer exists, as the araucarias, millenary trees from the Patagonian forests, were in part replaced by more productive pines. Near my new home, in Belgium, I find araucarias that adorn front gardens. We hear some girls playing in the car, pointing out araucarias on the road. How did these plants become a petty-bourgeois fashion in northern Europe? I confront these archives with contemporary technoscientific images, used by a lab to explore plant modifications. What can these modes of representation tell us about our time?

• Release Date: 2022-12-31
• Runtime: 0h 17min
• Production Company: Le Fresnoy
• Production Country: Argentina, France
• Director: Julián García Long