First film in Esselen language.

Collect knowledge from a conversation between humans and non-humans with the goal of protecting aquatic photosynthetic organisms. A discussion with a pelican on the shore who is announcing the funeral dance of its kelp forest to a Ohlone Costanoan Esselen Nation woman.d

Experimental film by Kalie Granier in collaboration with Ohlone Costanoan Esselen Nation’s Alexandria Casares and tribal chairwoman Louise Ramirez, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, The Nature Conservancy, subtidal ecologist Tristin Anoush McHugh, underwater photojournalist Jenny Adler, illustrator Gwladys Le Roy, sound design Blakely Dadson, drone footage Damien Golbin, animation post-production Thibault Stoyanov, pelican footage Alain Mellan, editing Stephanie Araud.

This project illustrates communication and collaboration possible between living species. Plants, ani- mals and human beings, all inhabitants of the Earth, together, all in search of our survival in the Anthropocene, a time where 90% of the kelp forest of California has disappeared , together aware of our interdependent existence. This communication is in rhizome in order to lead to an evolution of environmental consciousness.

It is a narrative about a marine ecosystem in danger, narrated by a pelican calling for help.

Will we be able to protect the seaweed, which we all depend on to survive? Together, the kelp forest, the pelican, and the Native American woman weave a sensitive relationship of trust to spread the ocean’s warning. The sharing of ecological knowledge is an important response to the crises in which our lives are entangled.

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