Wild Relatives

Wild Relatives draws lines between three distant spots on the world map: Syria, Lebanon and Svalbard. The lines chart a route and a complex network of relationships. ‘Wild Relatives’ exposes the exchange of ecological currency between two of the world’s grain banks, which are the archives of the smallest basic ingredient of agriculture: Seeds. Biodiversity, conflicts and international politics are parts of a game with perspectives reaching far out into the most distant future, and form the basis for a humorous and thought-provoking conversation between a priest and a scientist far out in the middle of nowhere. The protagonists in the game of the precious grains share a common understanding of the perspectives of their mission, which stretches beyond the unpredictable political present age that they are forced to navigate. Manna works in the field between documentary filmmaking and a research-based artistic practice, with a special eye for both human and abstract political relations.