Ecofeminist practices in documentary film: territory, more-than-human relationships, and care in the work of Maddi Barber
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24310/fotocinema.29.2024.19622Keywords:
ecofeminism, documentary film, care theory, more-than-human encounters, multiespecies diversity, film ecocriticismAbstract
In recent years, the ecofeminist critical stance has allowed to understand an emerging trend in experimental documentary that approaches climate emergency through the representation of the environment and more-than-human relationships. This paper proposes to determine themes, discourses, and forms in this trend through the work of Maddi Barber, a filmmaker from Navarra known for the documentaries 592 meters above (2019) and Land Underwater (2020), which explore the effects of the construction of the Itoiz dam and reservoir. In her filmography, the main themes deal with memory, belonging to the territory, environmental management, and responsibility in relationships with nonhuman beings. Therefore, this analysis, on the one hand, ponders on how the relational and multiespecies perspective shapes the ways of representing the territory, and on the other, delves into the creative process and the networks of collaboration based on care that Maddi Barber maintains. It does so to contribute to delineate a proposal of ecofeminist practices in documentary film that extends beyond the work of the filmmaker.
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