Fragmented Forest (2012) dir. Elke Marhfer

Fragmented forest is the term for a “former rainforest” that is cut down in a manner that leaves behind small, isolated patches of forest. These small islands become sites for ecological research on biodiversity, they become park for leisure, or they become rubber tree plantations. Filmed in Xishuangbanna in the Southeast of China on the border to Laos and Myanmar, a tree was worshiped by the inhabitants and the visitors (plantation workers, farmers, lumberjacks, cleaners, tourists, ecologists) alike. Testing a “speculative camera”, it stays unclear what is at issue: the plants, the light, the shadow and the plastic pieces of the worshiped tree become inseparabel. Every image becomes a thing and the things become images.