The Outer Space Forest

In a cactus nursery in Palermo, a strange human community lives in a weird symbiosis with insects and plants, sheltered from the violence of the world. This fragile ecosystem is threatened by the arrival of disinfection agents looking for an ant that is considered a pest.

Founded three hundred years ago as a refuge from slave traders, Ganvié, in Benin, has become the largest stilt village in Africa and now attracts thousands of tourists. But the people of the water, who once resisted colonization, are today colonized by a new invader: the water hyacinth. Said to have been introduced to decorate hotels and luxury homes, this plant now spreads at a staggering and uncontrollable rate, suffocating the lake. A small Beninese company has managed to turn this scourge into a resource—but at the cost of exhausting labor. Raw realism and imaginary visions blend together, as if one could only be understood—or endured—through the lens of the other.