IN THE GARDEN OF FORKING PATHS

A project of the (vertical)
Centre for Imaginative Ethnography
IN THE GARDEN OF FORKING PATHS film poster

Just before conditions on Planet Earth became unsuitable for human life, a small group of children received a message from a faraway galaxy: an ancient civilization’s plea for notes describing life on Planet Earth. In The Garden of Forking Paths is made from all that is left of those notes.

Simone Rapisarda Casanova 

& Dara Culhane

Canada, 2021

70 min, Colour, Stereo

“One of the most unique film experiences I’ve ever seen, the film is […] a contemplative journey that lets me see the world through the eyes of a kid again.”

‑ Paul R. Sell (The Spokesman-Review)


“exceptionally beautiful, commanding to watch. Invoke[s] the cinematic tradition of faith in the image, convincing the viewer to invest in what they see.”

- ███████ (██████████)


“[A] formally inventive and philosophically engaged realization of a collaborative ethos that still retain the capacity to surprise and delight—a difficult balance to achieve.”

- ████ (██████████)


“[The directors have] eliminated the common subject-object dichotomy that dominates much of the film world  (and much of the world).”

- ███████ (████████)


“Astute in the stream of consciousness assemblage as its own form and deconstruction of conventional echo-ethnography methods”

- ██████ (█████████)


“The film is an exercise in yielding. [The directors] yield space to the children’s keen grasp of their region and its human and nonhuman inhabitants, their knowledge of First Nations stories and mythologies, and perhaps most importantly, to their profound sense of ecological justice. Formally, too, the decision to invite the children to film with omnidirectional cameras […] produces an aesthetic of yielding.”

- ███████ (███████████)


Made with the support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

Créé avec le soutien du Conseil de Recherches en Sciences Humaines du Canada

Awards and honours

2022    Best Experimental Film Award. Gully International Film Festival, Bihar, India

            Honorable Mention - Experimental Film, Mannheim Arts and Film Festival, Mannheim, Germany

            Best Experimental Feature Film, Bettiah International Film Festival, Bettiah, India

            Best Experimental Feature Film Bronze Award, International Smyrna Movie Festival, Izmir, Turkey

            Best Documentary Film Special Jury Award, Mokkho International Film Festival, Pondicherry, India

            Best Experimental Film Award, Rameshwaram International Film Festival, Chennai, India

            Best Feature Documentary Cinematography, Wallachia International Film Festival, Bucharest, Romania

            Best Experimental Film Award,  Jaisalmer International Film Festival, Jaisalmer, India                

            Best Documentary Award, Falcon International Film Festival, London, UK

            Best Experimental Film Award, Gangtok International Film Festival, Gangtok, India

            Best Experimental Film Award, Cine Paris Film Festival, Paris, France

            Best Documentary Feature Film Award, Tamizhagam International Film Festival, Chennai, India

            Best Experimental Feature Award, Nawada International Film Festival, Nawada, India

            Best Experimental Film Award, Wales International Film Festival, Swansea, UK

            Best Documentary Feature Film Award, Sittannavasal International Film Festival, Karaiyur, India

            Nominee, Best Experimental Film Award, Swedish International Film Festival, Arvika, Sweden

            Best Experimental Film Award, Tagore International Film Festival, Birbhum, India

            Nominee, Best Documentary Feature Film Award, Brighton Rocks Film Festival, Brighton, UK

            Best Environment/Nature Film Award, Athvikvaruni International Film Festival, Aranthanki, India

            Best Experimental Feature Award, Best Poster Award, South Film and Arts Academy Festival, Rancagua, Chile

            Best Experimental Film Award, Sundarban International Film Festival, Kolkata, India

2021    Outstanding Achievement Award - Experimental Film, Druk International Film Festival, Paro, Bhutan


Screenings (selected)

2023    Chambal International Film Festival, Kota, India

2022    International Moving Film Festival, Abadan, Iran

            Bettiah International Film Festival, Bettiah, India

            Switzerland International Film Festival, Aubonne, Switzerland

            Gully International Film Festival, Bihar, India.

            Mannheim Arts and Film Festival, Mannheim, Germany

            Luleå International Film Festival, Luleå, Sweden

            Mokkho International Film Festival, Pondicherry, India

            Rameshwaram International Film Festival, Chennai, India

            Wallachia International Film Festival, Bucharest, Romania

            International Smyrna Movie Festival, Izmir, Turkey

            Tamizhagam International Film Festival, Chennai, India

            Nawada International Film Festival, Nawada, India

            Sittannavasal International Film Festival, Karaiyur, India

            South Film and Arts Academy Festival, Rancagua, Chile

            Athvikvaruni International Film Festival, Aranthanki, India

            Wales International Film Festival, Swansea, UK

            Sundarban International Film Festival, Kolkata, India

            Boden International Film Festival, Boden, Sweden 

            VIZANTROP Engaged Ethnographic Film Festival, Belgrade, Serbia

            Jaisalmer International Film Festival, Jaisalmer, India

            Falcon International Film Festival, London, UK

            Cine Paris Film Festival, Paris, France

            Gangtok International Film Festival, Gangtok, India

            Swedish International Film Festival, Arvika, Sweden

            International Documentary Festival of Ierapetra, Ierapetra, Greece

            Tagore International Film Festival, Birbhum, India

            Brighton Rocks Film Festival, Brighton, UK 

            Darbhanga International Film Festival, Darbhanga, India

            Filmfest Bremen, Bremen, Germany

            Buenos Aires International Film Festival, Buenos Aires, Argentina

            Spokane International Film Festival, Spokane, WA, USA

            Bayamón International Film Festival, Bayamón, Puerto Rico

2021    Muestra de Antropología Audiovisual de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

            Cannes World Film Festival, Cannes, France

            Druk International Film Festival, Paro, Bhutan