Wenqing Zhang

"The Invisible Amidst the Routine"

Section MS18, Ayanna Blair-Ford

Keywords: moving image

Do you have the habit of drinking coffee? It's a new day, brew a cup of coffee to refresh your mind and put yourself in a better position to work. But millions of people around the world drink coffee every day, and reports about the benefits of caffeine are endless, with caffeine beauty supplements gaining popularity ... Such a large consumption has also brought about serious ecological problems. The video focuses on the Amazon forest, the coffee kingdom, where growing coffee has brought massive deforestation. What is nature's response to this? What is being eroded by consumerist desires?

In order to increase the growth rate of coffee trees and the yield of coffee beans, more and more farmers are switching to full-sun cultivation, cutting down all shade trees to grow coffee. This has led to massive deforestation. At the same time, poor coffee farmers are contrasted with those who pursue consumerism and capitalism to excess. Or perhaps, both coffee producers and consumers are nothing more than cogs in the ruthless global capitalist machine.

Eyes focused on the Amazon forest, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon reached a 12-year-high in 2020 as more than 4,000 square miles were cleared––an area about the size of the island of Hawaii. Disturbingly, the local government appears complacent and, in fact, promotes the notion that 'where there is indigenous land, there is wealth.'

Such a reckless invasion of the living territories of the indigenous Amazonian people has caused climate change in the region, seriously affecting the lives of the local people. The film also focuses on the Amazonian shaman's spiritual connection to nature, and the degradation of the environment has also affected the traditional religious ceremonies of the region.