Join us for From the Breach, a short film programme curated by Ulrich Ziemons (Arsenal Filminstitut e.V., Berlin) presented in collaboration with Goethe-Institut New Zealand.

Comprised of five short films, the programme takes the exhibition all the forest stands with you as a jumping off point to bring moving image artworks into conversation that investigate the manifold ways humans have tried to understand, engage and/or contain the natural world across various histories and geographies. The works made by artists from Switzerland, Indonesia, France, Canada and Brazil chart disparate systems of interaction, of separation and connection between human and more-than-human entities, such as plants, fungi, animals or rock formations.

In „Fanfictie: Volcanology“ (Indonesia/Italy 2025, 16min), Riar Rizaldi focusses on the science of volcanology, introduced in Indonesia through the work of Dutch geologist Franz Wilhelm Junghuhn; and on how his theories conflicted with local conceptions of volcanoes. The film presents Junghuhn as an undead, zombified ghost who haunts the depths of an active volcano. Using tropes from horror cinema, intricate set design, exuberance and humor, Rizaldi ruminates on the tensions between local, embodied knowledge and western science as well as the colonial project’s connection with and reliance on scientific extraction.

„Medicine and Magic“ (Canada 2022, 5min) – originally conceived as a two-channel video installation – is based on Theo Jean Cuthand’s family histories told by his maternal grandparents. Cuthand’s Plains Cree ancestors told stories of medicine men, bear spirits and successful healings using medicine bundles. Research about his Scottish ancestors brought stories about white magic to light – an attempt at protecting cattle, which led to accusations of witchcraft. By bringing these geographically and temporarily distinct histories together, Cuthand opens up a multi-layered space for a reflection on the systemic suppression of spirituality in the guise of enlightenment.  

French filmmaker Stéphanie Lagarde employs a polyphonic narrator – filmmaker, parent, forest, insects, fungi, childcare worker – in her film essay “Extra life (and Decay)” (France/Netherlands 2025, 21min). A film about community and how to forge and maintain it across different species. Combining questions around motherhood, labor, care and extraction, the film looks for ways of resisting exploitative neo-liberal structures and forging alliances between human and non-human actors. With its reliance on a chorus of voices and an array of visual approaches, the film works not only to decenter the individual, but also the human perspective.  

In long, observational sequences shot on 16mm analogue film material, “Résistance” by Laurence Favre (Switzerland 2017, 11min) documents a melting glacier with stunning attention to minute details of change. Beyond its majestic appearance, sporadic elements reveal the mountain’s fragility. Objects regurgitated through the melt witness the passing presence of mankind, leaving traces and scars. The film is a testament to the impressive contrarian agency of a mountain in the face of man-made climate catastrophe.  

“Floresta do Film do Mundo (Forest of the End of the World)” (Brazil 2026, 25min) – a collaboration between Rio de Janeiro filmmaker Felipe M. Bragança and Indigenous visual artist Denilson Baniwa – draws on the cosmogony of the Amazonian Baniwa people to tell the story of Suely, an Indigenous woman living in a large Brazilian city who has recurring dreams in which she communicates with a forest. Between romantic dances in a suburban bar, the heavy sounds of machines in the recycling factory she works at and the mysterious voices of an impatient nature, Suely connects to secrets about herself that place her in the midst of radical changes to the future of the world as we know it.

All films sourced from the archive of Arsenal Filminstitut e.V.
This event is held at the Lopdell Theatre (418 Titirangi Rd)

Film stills: Riar Rizaldi "Fanfictie: Volcanology“ (2025); Theo Jean Cuthand "Medicine and Magic" (2022); Stéphanie Lagarde "Extra life (and Decay)" (2025); Laurence Favre "Résistance" (2017); Felipe M. Bragança and Denilson Baniwa "“Floresta do Film do Mundo (Forest of the End of the World)” (2026). © The Artists.