HOLGUT

Siberian villager Roman and city boy Kymm venture into the vast Yakutian wilderness, hunting for a rare reindeer, while cloning-scientist Semyon hunts for mammoth remains. Their quests drive them far North and eventually down into the melting permafrost, where science fiction seems to become reality and reality seems to become myth.

LIESBETH DE CEULAER

Belgian independent filmmaker based in Brussels, whose films explore the tense and complex relationship between man and his environment. These cinematic explorations lead to captivating worlds, in which documentary and fiction are in continuous exchange. Victoria (2020), Behind the Redwood Curtain (2013) and The Best Act on the Isle (2008) have been presented at film festivals such as Berlinale IFF (DE, Caligari Award), IndieLisboa (PT, TVCine Award),  Curitiba IFF Olhar de Cinema (BR, Special Jury Award), Open City (UK, Open City Award), Docville (BE, Best Documentary), Play Doc (ES, Best Film), Entrevues Belfort IFF (FR), Visions du Réel (Pitching du Réel, CH), Camden Documentary FF (Points North Fellowship, US), Hamptons IFF (US) and Hot Springs Documentary FF (US).

Climate change and the 6th mass extinction are upon us: temperatures and water levels are rising, land is crumbling and species are going extinct at a rapid rate. HOLGUT stems from these tragic events and from the defining human influence lying within. How to survive and grasp this incredibly fast-changing world, one that often seems to be heading for doom? We are part of the natural world. When we lose parts of this world, we lose parts of our self. Our stories get punctured, they become incomplete and we can get lost. The mammoth’s tale of extinction reveals a fascinating narrative that 
unravels over millennia and has an ending still unknown. At the fortnight of the mammoth’s rebirth, I wonder how we will look back at this critical moment hundreds of years from now.

• Visions du Reel / Switzerland
• CPH:DOX / Denmark
• DOK.Fest Munich / Germany 

 

DOKer 2021 — Main Competition