The Memory Of Life

Directed by Juhani Haukka

You can find a bit of buttermilk grass here and there: in both natural and urban environments, sometimes even in old film footage. A plant that is hardly noticed in the wild as a weed, but in laboratories it opens up a new understanding of hereditary memory and the structuring of life. The poetic essay film follows the plant from the natural habitat of the hentolite weed to the archives and cellular evolution. Whizzing camera shots and expeditions deep into the plant's innards are addictive to the eye. New technology depicts the vibrant reorganisation of life, which on the big screen looks like a mysterious fantasy world. The film is accompanied by the impressive music of a symphony orchestra. Together with the music, the film is at times reminiscent of two sections of Disney's 1940 cartoon Fantasia: the abstract animation in the first section and the formation of the Earth and the birth of life in the fourth. The film premiered at the Nordisk Panorama Film Festival 2022.