The Institute of the Cosmos (IOTC) presents Autotrofia

The Institute of the Cosmos (IOTC) is pleased to present Autotrofia, a film by Anton Vidokle based on writings of the painter Vasily Chekrygin and the scientist Vladimir Vernadsky.

Shot in Oliveto Lucano village in the south of Italy, this film is simultaneously a documentation of a pagan fertility ritual that is still practiced in this region, and a scripted narrative. The scripted content of the film explores a desire to transform and evolve in such a way that humans would not need to kill and consume any other living organism in order to produce the energy necessary for living, and instead learn from green plants how to generate nutrition directly from the Sun. This idea, first articulated by the Soviet Ukrainian scientist Vladimir Vernadsky in the 1920s, is juxtaposed with an ancient pagan celebration of King Oak and King Holly: a harvest festival in which two trees that represent summer and winter are joint into one supernaturally tall tree, completing and connecting the seasonal cycle created by the orbit of Earth around the Sun.

Autotrofia was commissioned by Fondazione Matera-Basilicata as a collaboration with the community of Oliveto Lucano. The entire village participated in the making of the film, some helping with production and others taking on acting roles. Shot in Italian, the script was translated by Franco (Bifo) Berardi. The music for the film was composed by Alva Noto (Carsten Nicolai).

Watch the film here.

Autotrofia (2020)
HD video, color, sound, 31:37 minutes.
Italian with English subtitles.

Directed by Anton Vidokle
Starring: Muna Mussie, Alessandro Magania, Kasia Wolinska, Fabio Cipriano Romano, Francesco Rivelli, Simone Lanari, The People of Oliveto Lucano
Cinematography: Ayman Nahle
Editing: Ayman Nahle, Hinda Weiss, Anton Vidokle
Original score: Alva Noto
Choreography: Kasia Wolinska
Executive producer: 10D film
Commissioned by: Pelin Tan