Mermaids flip a tale of twin detriments, domiciles cradle morph invaders, crocodile trails swallow two-legged twigs in a fecund mash of nature’s outlaws... down in the Everglades.
Wayward Fronds references a series of historical events that helped shape the Florida Everglades as they are today, while fictionalizing their geological future and their effects on both native and exotic inhabitants. Exploring this region was influenced by recent talks to finally disperse billions of dollars in restoration funds, giving way to ideas and possibilities of a future eco-flourished Everglades that engulfs civilization along the way. Events in this film imply that nature begins to take over, that the Everglades switch roles and tame civilization after centuries of attack, and even guide it into its mysterious aqueous depths, forcing humans to adapt and evolve to their surroundings. “Sound serves as a field of play for many ... filmmakers, who call to viewers with it in ways that excite the imagination. Fern Silva’s Wayward Fronds ... combines verdant landscape imagery with richly heightened natural sounds of chirping birds and insects, bubbling water and galloping horses, which together help give a sense of an expanding ecosystem.” (Aaron Cutler)
Fern Silva, born in 1982, in Hartford, Connecticut, uses film to create a cinematographic language for the hybrid mythologies of globalism. His films consider methods of narrative, ethnographic, and documentary filmmaking as the starting point for structural experimentation. He has created a body of film, video, and projection work that has been screened and performed at various festivals, galleries, museums, and cinematheques including Toronto, Berlin, Locarno, Rotterdam, New York, Edinburgh, Images, London, and others.
Contact: www.fernsilva.com
Format: Colour
Running time: 14 min
Language: English
Fern Silva
Wayward Fronds
USA 2014
