Do plants have a consciousness? Not if you look at it from a human scale. But maybe it is about time we stopped always doing just that. ‘Light Needs’ is a generous, thought-provoking and artistically inventive film that literally expands one’s consciousness and creates a space for empathy with other life forms – namely the houseplants that most of us live with. In an unpretentious but serious and empathetic exploration of the symbiotic relationship between human and non-human beings, we learn, among other things, what it feels like to turn sunlight into glucose from the inside. But we also meet a diverse range of people who let us in on their close and often deeply personal relationship with the plants they share their homes with. Visual artist Jesse McLean has previously shown several of her short works at CPH:DOX, and has made a free and open-minded contribution to the great current within contemporary culture which has turned to biology and the living to find new ways forward for both thought and action. (CPH:DOX)

Light Needs is an experimental documentary about houseplants who cohabitate with people and the surprisingly intimate and complex relationships that can develop between them. Containing footage collected from many different domestic and professional spaces over several years, each home/site evidences the different ways people cohabitate with and relate to plants. Yet, this film is ardently not a document of houseplants but rather a consideration of the benefits and losses accrued through the social contracts between plant and animal. By directly attending to the relationships humans have with nonhumans, Light Needs looks to shine a light on the responsibility for care towards other living beings. (JM)

Contact: Syndicado World Sales
Aleksandar Govedarica
Tel.: +421949635890
aleksandar@syndicado.com
https://syndicadofs.com


SCREENINGS + EXHIBITIONS:

Duluth Superior Film Festival, Duluth, MN, October 6, 2024
Chicago Underground Film Festival, Harper Theater, Chicago, IL, September 12 and 13, 2024
ngbk, Orangery of Care, September 2024 - Berlin Art Week, Berlin, Germany
UK Green Film Festival - various locations
Depot, Lewes, June 22, 2024
Eden Court, Inverness, June 24, 2024
Phoenix, Leicester, June 24, 2024
Glasgow Film Theater, Glasgow, June 25, 2024
Rio Cinema, London, June 27, 2024
DCA, Dundee, June 27, 2024
Showroom Cinema, Sheffield, June 27, 2024,
Storyhouse, Chester, June 29, 2024
Milwaukee Film Festival, Milwaukee, WI, April, 2024
Athens Film and Video Festival, Athens, OH, April 11, 2024
Wisconsin Film Festival, Madison, WI, April 6, 2024
Kassel Dokfest, Kassel, Germany 2023
Imagine Science Films, Science New Wave Festival, NY, NY, 2023 (US Premiere)
World of Knowledge, St. Petersburg, Russia, 2023
Planet in Focus, Toronto, Canada, 2023
Innsbrück Nature Film Festival, Innsbrück, Tyrol, Austria, 2023
Bergen International Film Festival, Bergen, Norway, 2023
Seoul Animal Film Festival, Seoul, S. Korea, 2023
MakeDox Creative Documentary Film Festival, Skopje, North Macedonia, 2023
Savonlinna International Nature Film Festival, Savonlinna, Finland, 2023
Roskilde Culture Cinema, Roskilde, Finland, 2023
BEAT Festival, Russian Premiere, 2023
CPH:DOX World Premiere in Main Competition program, 2023
Rooftop Films and Irving Harvey Color Correction Grant Awardee 2021

PRESS:

“One of the charming things about a festival like CPH:DOX is that you can be greeted by stories about subjects you had no idea you would find fascinating. In 'Light Needs' it's about ... houseplants! About their inner life and their consciousness – if they have one. And about some of the people who have a very special attachment to the green non-human beings. Jesse McLean's film, which is included in this year's main competition, looks a bit like an eye-opener that can make one look at the world, life and houseplants from a slightly different angle.”