The Creeping Garden 2015
Distributed by Cinema Guild, 115 West 30th Street, Suite 800, New York, NY 10001; 212-685-6242
Produced by Tim Grabham and Jasper Sharp
Directed by Tim Grabham and Jasper Sharp
DVD, color, 82 min.
Middle School - General Adult
Agriculture, Architecture, Art, Biology, Biotechnology, Computer Industry, Design, Ecology, Engineering, Future, Industrial Design, Microbiology, Microorganisms, Photography, Physiology, Robotics, Research, Science, Technology
Date Entered: 05/23/2016
Reviewed by Joseph Baumstarck, Jr., University of Louisville, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Ivy Tech Community CollegeThe Creeping Garden is a spectacularly beautiful, extremely well done, and highly informative film about slime molds - one of the most neglected group of organisms. Despite the mundane and poorly understood subjects pursued by the film this work is anything but boring. The photography is exquisite, the time lapse and magnification are awesome, and the applications looked at in the later part of the film are literally the stuff of a futuristic world. This film is a must have for all libraries, all educational facilities from middle school up, and all home theaters.
The film starts by showing scientists looking for slime molds in their natural habitat. It does a good job of showing the ubiquitous nature and great variety of these organisms. Although the beginning and end of the film use a nerdy space invader theme this is not distracting and sets the mood for the rest of the production. It goes on to discuss some of what is known about these fascinating organisms and points out the significant deficits in knowledge about them. The last portion of this film looks at some of the applications which have been developed using slime molds in design, architecture, art, music, computer applications, network development, and robotics. The applications alone view like a high grade science fiction movie despite the factual nature of their presentation. A mycology storage center, which incidentally has an orphan slime mold collection, is shown in an interesting and informative way. The whole production makes a subject which is usually ignored compelling and should provide an incentive for viewers to enter this exciting and emerging field which seems to have unlimited potential.
Even for non-scientifically oriented audiences there are few, if any, negatives about this film. The Creeping Garden succeeds at all levels. The limited knowledge and lack of official academic interest in slime molds make this film a necessary proponent for further basic scientific study of these captivating, and as the film proves, useful organisms. This film is highly recommended.
Awards
- Best Documentary, Outlier Film Festival
- Best Director’s Documentary, Fantastic Fest