“This impressionistic documentary is a heavenly and entrancing look at the end of the world. It’s an intensely well-made film, finding something truly moving in between the worlds of NASA and indigenous cosmology.”
“A puzzle-like enigma that tantalizingly circles around its subjects. Christman’s documentary resembles a work of science fiction.”
“Sarah Christman’s feature debut is an exquisitely filmed masterpiece, seamlessly weaving together the lives of indigenous peoples and science.”
WATCH THE FILM
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educational + Institutional sales
Grasshopper Film
SYNOPSIS
On the remote volcanic island of Hawaii, 10-year-old Manu and her mother collect wild, endangered bees in order to breed disease-resistant colonies. Her father is protesting on the sacred mountain Mauna Kea against the establishment of a gigantic telescope. On a neighboring mountain, six NASA scientists practice living on Mars, and under the ground and the water, the Kilauea volcano quivers fatefully.
The scientific view of the world and the cosmology of the indigenous people are both components of Sarah Christman's feature debut. With an artist's eye for details and plenty of time for amazement, Swarm Season draws fascinating parallels between the micro- and macrocosm, and challenges our understanding of nature, the world and ourselves. The form is sensory, impressionistic and free, with space for our own interpretations, while also razor-sharp, when Christman observes the bees, their necessary swarming and the intricate engineering of their hives as a prism to look at all life around us. If honey bees - one of the most robust and cooperative species on this planet - are threatened with extinction, what future does humanity have on Earth?
creative team
Sarah Christman - Director, Producer, & editor
Sarah Christman makes films that explore the intersections between people, technology and the natural world. Her work has screened widely, including International Film Festival Rotterdam, Toronto Film Festival, New York Film Festival, MoMA Documentary Fortnight and the Los Angeles Film Forum. She received the New Visions Award from the San Francisco International Film Festival for her debut film Dear Bill Gates and Jury Awards from the Ann Arbor Film Festival for Broad Channel and As Above, So Below. She is a Professor in the Film Department of Brooklyn College / CUNY. Swarm Season is her first feature length film.
Zara PopovicI - Cinematographer
kevin t allen - sound designer
MUsic - cool for you
Sean Dwyer - Location Sound Recordist
Natacha Ikoli- Colorist
Thomas Rivera Montes - Associate Editor
featuring Manu and alison Yahna
PRESS
Migrations in Space, Alex McDonald, Resurgence & Ecologist Magazine
Art of the Real 2019, David Perrin, MUBI Notebook
Art of the Real Returns for Sixth Edition, Joshua Brunsting, CriterionCast
Art of the Real: A Celebration of Non-Narrative Filmmaking, Dustin Chang, Screen Anarchy
April Films: Hong Kong wuxia, Art of the Real, and Mexican noir, J. Hoberman, the new york Review of books
Begrudging Optimism and Much Gloom, Matt Turner, Frieze
CPH:DOX 2019: VR and DOX:AWARD Standouts, Lauren Wissot, documentary.org
Ai Weiwei’s “The Rest”, Sarah J. Christman’s “Swarm Season” to screen at CPH:DOX ’19, Daniele Alcinii, Realscreen
past SCREENINGS
MassMoCA, What’s at Stake
North Adams, MA
Thursday - March 05, 2020 - 19:00
*Filmmaker in attendance*
Portland International Film Festival
Portland, OR
Monday - March 09, 2020 - 20:30
Environmental Film Festival
Washington D.C.
Tuesday - March 17, 2020 - 19:00
First Person Cinema
University of Colorado, Boulder
Monday - February 17, 2020 - 19:00
*Filmmaker in attendance*
Alternative Cinema
Colgate University, Hamilton, NY
Tuesday - February 4, 2020 - 19:00
Göteborg Film Festival
Göteborg, Sweden
Tuesday - January 28 - February February 1, 2020
Arsenal, UNKNOWN PLEASURES #11
Berlin, Germany
Wednesday - January 02, 2020 - 19:00
Monday - January 06, 2020 - 20:00
Torino Film Festival
Torino, Italy
Monday - November 25, 2019 - 22:30 @ Cinema Massimo
Thursday - November 28, 2019 - 22:30 @ Cinema Reposi
Saturday - November 30, 2019 - 17:30 @ Cinema Massimo
RIDM: Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montréal
Montreal, Canada
Thursday - November 21, 2019 - 20:15 @ Cinéma du Parc
Friday - November 22, 2019 - 19:00 @ Cinéma du Parc
*Filmmaker in attendance*
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn, NY
Thursday - November 14, 2019 - 19:00
*Filmmaker in attendance*
L’Alternativa: Festival de Cinema Independent de Barcelona
Barcelona, Spain
Wednesday - November 13, 2019 - 19:00 @ Auditori CCCB
Saturday - November 16 - 16:15 @ Tetre CCCB
Kasseler Dokfest
Kassel, Germany
Wednesday - November 13, 2019 - 21:45 @ Filmladen
DCTV: Downtown Community Television Center
New York, NY
Monday - November 4, 2019 - 19:00
*Filmmaker in attendance*
Environmental Film Festival Australia
Melbourne, Australia
Friday - October 25, 2019 - 20:45 @ Cinema Nova
Ânûû-rû Âboro International Film Festival
New Caledonia
Sunday - October 20, 2019 - 18:30
Santa Fe Film Festival
Santa Fe, NM
Thursday - October 17, 2019 - 13:30 @ The Screen
Friday - October 18, 2019 - 11:00 @ The Screen
*Filmmaker in attendance*
Santa Cruz Film Festival
Santa Cruz, CA
Saturday - October 12, 2019 - 12:00 @ Tannery Center
Northwest Film Forum
Seattle, WA
Sunday - October 6, 2019 - 19:00
Monday - October 7, 2019 - 19:00
*Filmmaker in attendance*
Tacoma Film Festival
Tacoma, WA
Sunday - October 6, 2019 - 13:00 @ The Grand Cinema
*Filmmaker in attendance*
Nuremberg International Human Rights Film Festival
Nuremberg, Germany
Thursday - October 3, 2019 - 11:00 @ kinoeins
Sunday - October 6, 2019 - 17:00 @ kinoeins
Art of the Real, Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, Brazil
Monday - September 23th, 2019 - 21:30
Anthology Film Archives
New York, NY
Sunday - September 22, 2019 - 19:00
*Filmmaker in attendance*
Bertha DocHouse
London, UK
Saturday - September 20, 2019 - 21:00 @ Bloomsbury
Sunday - September 21, 2019 - 20:50 @ Bloomsbury
Monday - September 22, 2019 - 18:00 @ Bloomsbury
Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University
New Brunswick, NJ
Saturday - September 20, 2019 - 10:00 @ Rutgers Cinema
*Filmmaker in attendance*
Sheffield Doc/Fest
Sheffield, UK (UK Premiere)
Saturday - June 8, 2019 - 13:40 @ The Light Cinema 6
Tuesday - June 11, 2019 - 09:15 @ The Light Cinema 8
Maryland Film Festival
Baltimore, MD
Friday - May 10, 2019 - 16:30 @ Parkway Theater
Saturday - May 11, 2019 - 16:00 @ Parkway Theater
*Filmmaker in attendance*
Art of the Real, Film at Lincoln Center
New York City (US Premiere)
Wednesday - April 24, 2019 - 18:30 @ The Walter Reade Theater
*Filmmaker in attendance*
CPH:DOX
Copenhagen, Denmark (World Premiere)
Friday - March 23, 2019 - 19:30 @ Cinemateket
Wednesday - March 27, 2019 - 19:00 @ Cinemateket
Friday - March 29, 2019 - 12:00 @ Dagmar
*Filmmaker in attendance*