Deep in Mexico’s forests, two indigenous mycologists, or experts in fungi, look to reconcile the past and the present, and science fiction and ancient practices, while reimagining the future for themselves and the changing world they inhabit. Otilia Portillo Padua (Three Voices) invites us on a trippy excursion to join them on their explorations via her feature documentary Daughters of the Forest.
The film world premieres at the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival CPH:DOX on March 13 in the DOX:Award main competition section, followed later that day by its North American premiere in the Visions section of SXSW in Austin, Texas. The atmospheric doc from Oscura Producciones and Sandbox Films is co-executive produced by Argentine actress Mia Maestro.
The two main voices in the film are Eliseete and Julieta, two young, scientifically trained mycologists with one foot in modern science and the other in their indigenous families’ ways of viewing nature and themselves.
“Daughters of the Forest is a story of entanglements: between humans and mushrooms; the visible and the invisible, generational knowledge and modern science,” highlights a synopsis. “This immersive sci-fi documentary takes us on an unexpected, sometimes speculative exploration to reconsider the perceptions and experiences of both the human and non-human inhabitants of our world.”
And the CPH:DOX website promises: “With elements of both sci-fi and sensual immersion in the wonders of nature, it is an experience of the rarest and finest kind. A story of ecological coexistence, but also a report from a world threatened by deforestation and human arrogance.”
Produced by Paula Arroio, Elena Fortes and Portillo Padua, Daughters of the Forest features cinematography from Martín Boege, music by Hannah Peel and sound design by Javier Umpierrez.
Lorenzo Mora Salazar is the editor.
“Mushroom foragers often say the mushroom finds you. In my case, mushrooms found me just as I was searching for ways to counteract the apocalyptic narratives of the present,” shares Portillo Padua in a director’s statement. “The apocalyptic story is one we know all too well. It slaps us in the face each time we turn on the news or look at our phone: genocide, mass extinctions, climate emergencies, and an arc of history that seems to bend towards fascism. Our present increasingly resembles science fiction dystopias. If we are to imagine other possible futures, we must imagine other kinds of stories. This film begins by listening to fungi.” And she offers: “They suggest that there is renewal in the very death and decay that we humans are so conditioned to fear.”
The filmmaker followed her goal of creating “cinema of interdisciplinary alliances,” in this case, “a collaboration between foragers, Indigenous communities, scientists, filmmakers, artists, and fungi.”
Portillo Padua tells THR that Ursula K. Le Guin’s book The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction, which redefines technology as a cultural carrier bag, inspired the film. “This story began with questions rather than answers – with Ursula K. Le Guin’s idea of the carrier bag, and the mysteries it holds: what is inside it, and who carries it,” she shares. “We want to take the audience on an unexpected journey, one that invites them to listen and experience the world around them in a completely different way.”
Pointing out that the film uses “a mycelial lens,” producer Arroio echoes that. “We want to invite the audience to be guided by the mushrooms and their women allies through a story of collaboration between humans and non-humans – a woven web of interdependence,” she highlights.
Producer Fortes, founder of Fiascocrafts, also emphasizes the goal of shaking up conventions through a female lens. “We set out to disrupt the way we tend to experience and navigate the world with this film,” she says. “At its heart stands a woman carrying a basket, scattering spores and knowledge – a bastion of resistance and renewal. In contrast to a man gripping a sword, who ravages and claims the land, she restores and reimagines the future. In collaboration with the beings who share her world, she cultivates possibilities, rooted not in domination, but in reciprocity, regeneration, and care.”
Executive producer Caitlin Mae Burke, Sandbox Films’ head of production and development, sees the film fitting perfectly into the firm’s mission of “expanding perspectives,” saying it “defies one singular or linear path to knowledge, embracing the interconnectivity of academic, generational, and cultural learnings in gaining an understanding of our natural world.”
Adds executive producer Maxyne Franklin: “Weaving together ancestral knowledge and science, Otilia’s expansive and visionary direction invites us to see the world in alternative ways.”
And Maestro shares how the audio and visuals of the film play together to make Daughters of the Forest an unusual sensory experience. “Otilia has crafted a film of rare artistry – mysterious as the Funga kingdom itself,” she says. “Through poignant, evocative visuals and a richly layered sound design, she weaves together science and Indigenous knowledge, revealing them not as opposing forces but as wisdom traditions moving hand in hand.”
Ready to join the filmmaker to explore if what you see and hear is the mushrooms talking? Or just curious about a trippy cinematic journey? Whatever your motivation may be, you can check out an exclusive trailer for Daughters of the Forest here.
Read the full article here
