LICHENS ARE THE WAY

LIŠEJNÍKY

Ondřej Vavrečka • Czech Republic, Slovakia • 2024 • 43 min. • 16mm

SYNOPSIS

Lichens are amazing organisms that are unparalleled on Earth. They cannot be seen as individuals, like a hyacinth, a heron or a human, but they represent a relationship. The two entities that make up a lichen, a fungus and an algae, have for unknown reasons decided that living together would be better than living alone.
Lichens represent a metaphor that would inspire humanity to survive in the future. Lichens represent a new story discovered by the enfant terrible of biology, Trevor Goward. He and his partner Curtis Randal Björk guide us through the film. A purely cinematic experience filmed in Canadian Wells Gray valley, home of the wilderness learning centre.

TRAILER

AWARDS

Special Mention
CPH:DOX Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival | New Vision Competition. Denmark (2024)
Special Mention | Green Dox Competition
DokuFest International Documentary and Short Film Festival. Kosovo (2024)
Special Mention
Carpathian Mountain International Film Festival. Ukraine (2024)

FESTIVALS & ALTERNATIVE SCREENINGS

BELDOCS Belgrade International Documentary Film Festival. Serbia (2024)
FIDMarseille International Film Festival. France (2024)
Pravo Ljudski Film Festival. Bosnia & Herzegovina (2024)
Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival. Czech Republic (2024)

PRESS

"With the scientific pleasantries out of the way, Vavrečka proceeds to fashion a more ambitious thesis situating the lichen’s symbiotic relationship alongside humanity’s own with its environment."

IN THE REVIEW ONLINE • by Morris Yang

CREW

DIRECTOR & SCREENWRITER
Ondřej Vavrečka

PRODUCTION
Vít Janeček (D1film CZ & VIRUSfilm SK)

CINEMATOGRAPHER
Patrik Balonek

EDITOR
Sebastián Kučkovský

SYNTHESIZER
Michal Cáb

COLOR GRADING
Vojtěch Štetka
Michal Mocňák (RUR)

SOUND
Jan Richtr

MUSIC
Ondřej Vavrečka

CAST
Trevor Goward
Curtis Randall Björk

FESTIVALS & SALES
María Vera (KINO REBELDE)

The project has been developing during Dok.incubator Slovakia (2023) with Vadim Jendreyko, François Sculier and Alex Szalat.