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Festival 2023
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Grasshopper Republic

Grasshopper Republic

94' 2023
dir.: Daniel McCabe

Cricket hunting in Uganda – instant fortunes, deadly working conditions and the unearthly beauty of insects, which may one day form the basis of our diet. 

No one knows where they come from; some say they come from the sky, from the clouds while others believe they come from the moon. As captured in the close-ups of Daniel McCabe's film, grasshoppers are majestic in their resemblance to extraterrestrials, complex and mysterious. Gargantuan, they fill the cinema screen and pulse to the rhythm of hypnotic music. Soon, millions of them will appear in the depths of Ugandan forests; that's what the people hunting them are counting on, anyway as hectic preparations using huge, makeshift traps and powerful fluorescent lamps to illuminate the night sky get underway. In a spectacular, visually stunning finale, the film transports viewers to an encounter of two worlds, transmuting the screening into a transcendental, immersive experience.  

Daniel McCabe's movie serves up an aesthetic visual feast and offers a subtle reflection on the complex relationship between people and nature. Using sophisticated images, the director unconventionally takes on topics intertwined with our planet's future, from overexploitation of ecosystems and unbridled economic growth to ethics and sustainable development. 

Tadeusz Strączek

Festivals

2023 Visions du Réel

Tickets and passes
94' 2023 USA
Director
Daniel McCabe
Cinematography
Daniel McCabe, Michael McCabe, Michele Sibiloni
Editing
Alyse Ardell Spiegel
Production
XTR
Online availability
1-10 December
MOJEeKINO.pl
Screenings