Los dos lados de la tortuga
Two sides of the tortoise

12" / Super 8 to DCP / 5.1

An explorer from the past (or present) arrives in the Galapagos Islands for the first time to have a tactile encounter with rocks and tortoises. In the darkness of the volcanic tunnels the beasts transfigure freely. Giant tortoises hold the mystery of the universe in the scars on their backs, and to their misfortune they are also a craved food for hungry sailors who prowl the Pacific Ocean aimlessly.

An Islands' diary, told through the sombre but loving portrait of its oldest inhabitants. The Galapagos Islands and their majestic tortoises suffer the same fate of exploitation and disfigurement as the influence of humans on this once pristine and untouched corner of the world develops and devours. This film is the first 'chapter' of an ongoing adaptation of Herman Melville's 1849 novel about the islands, The Encantadas.

– Cristina Kolozsváry-Kiss

Screenings:
International Film Festival Rotterdam - Tiger Short Film Competition (Netherlands)

IBAFF - Festival Internacional de Cine Murcia (Spain)

DOXA - Documentary Film Festival (Canada)

Guanajuato Film Festival (Mexico)

Mimesis Documentary Film Festival (USA)

Ultra Cinema (Mexico)

La Surreal (Berlin)

Minikino (Indonesia)

MIDBO (Colombia)

Cine Toro (Colombia)

Seoul Animal Film Festival (Corea del sur)