Arbors, Herbs and Banana Leaves

Overview

The worlds of plants and human beings are entangled and mutually influenced. In Jingmai Mountain of Yunnan Province, China, the plants have woven the material and spiritual lives of the Blang people. For example, arbor trees are believed to have divine power, herbal plants can be used as ingredients and medicines, and banana leaves serve as both a spiritual medium between the people and their ancestors and a material product that builds a necessary part of human life. This ethnographic film adopts a multi-species perspective and, through the mode of plant music, tries to present the plant as a subject, not just an object of human activity.