SYNOPSIS
Margaret Mee and the Moonflower is a documentary that depicts the period the botanical illustrator spent in Brazil. She lived in Brazil for 36 years and was involved in 15 expeditions to the Amazon Forest. Margaret has left behind an important and valuable artistic heritage. Her illustrations are, up to this date, a valuable resource for botanical science research and her technique gave her recognition as one of the most important illustrators in Europe. She has international recognition and her art are part of important collections in the United States, England, France and Brazil.
Margaret was an unique artist who consecrated floral art. She died in England in a car accident in 1988; but in that same year she turned 79 while on the riverbanks of the Black River, when she finally was able to draw the Moon Flower (Strophocactus Wittii or Selenicereus Witti). This flower is an Amazon native cactus that only flowers for one night. This extremely rare species grows at the highest part of the trees and is only visible between May and June, during the Amazon River floods.
Filmed in London, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and the Amazon Forest between 2010 and 2011, Margaret Mee and the Moon Flower includes interviews of important researches such Carmem Fidalgo, botanist artist, Sir Ghillean Prance and Simon Mayo, both English botanists; Tony Morrison, a personal friend and writer; and Sylvia Brautigam, Margaret Mee’s art curator.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
Production: Elisa Tolomelli
Direction: Malu de Martino
Narrator: Patricia Pillar
Line Production: Monica Zennaro
Director of Photography: Julia Equi
Original Soundtrack: Artur Barreiros
Edition: Pedro Rossi
Sound Editing: Waldir Xavier
Consultants: Malena Barretto e Sylvia Brautigam
FESTIVALS
Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival – 2012 (Premiere Brasil)
36ª Mostra Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo (2012)
Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital (Washington DC)
6th Valencia Brazilian Film Festival (2013)
15ºFestival du Cinéma Brésilien de Paris (2013)
11th Brazilian Film Festival of New York (2013)
5th Brazilian Film Festival of London (2013)
Brazilian Film & Television Festival of Toronto (2013)
7e Festival du Film Brésilien de Montreal (2013)
8º Encontro Nacional de Cinema dos Sertões (2013)
AWARDS
Best Film (People’s Choice) Festival de Cinema Brasileiro de Londres (2013)
Best Soundtrack (Artur Barreiros) – Festival dos Sertões (2013)
