FILM. Docu natura by Água das Pedras

The Garden (Derek Jarman, 1990), The Secret Life of Plants (Walon Green, 1978) —featuring an original soundtrack by Stevie Wonder— and the documentary Mothers of the Land (Diego and Álvaro Sarmiento, 2019), will be screened on April 14, 15, and 16, respectively. The films will feature introductions by Biophest curators Elena Páez and Eva F. Cortés; Diego Fernández, curator of the festival's music section; and curator and art historian Aurora Carmenate Díaz.

This Biophest Festival 2026 activity is sponsored by Água das Pedras.

Screening: The Garden

Derek Jarman, UK, 1990, 92' DCP (+18) Presented by Eva F. Cortés, Elena Páez, and Aimar Arriola April 14 at 7:00 PM – Sala Plató, Cineteca [Get tickets here]

The Garden was born from Derek Jarman’s (1942–1994) outrage at the persistent discrimination against the gay community and the slow response to the AIDS crisis, following his own HIV diagnosis in 1988. Starring Tilda Swinton, this kaleidoscopic work showcases his genius in its purest form: a Hollywood-style musical number coexists with nightmares of queer persecution and the haunting presence of the nuclear power plant that looms over the filmmaker's own garden—a starting point and a sanctuary he continues to tend as his body begins to fail.

Jarman’s spirit and his profound love for nature will permeate various spaces of the 2nd Biophest Festival. Highlights include María Eugenia Diego’s (KOKON) installation Unlikely Oasis—a fusion of sculpture and botany inspired by Jarman’s garden, on view at Nave Una from Friday the 17th—and a reading of the filmmaker’s diaries proposed by Javier Pérez Iglesias for Saturday the 18th, both of which engage in a direct dialogue with this film.

Session introduced by: Eva F. Cortés and Elena Páez (Biophest Festival Curators) and Aimar Arriola (Program Manager, Intermediae Matadero Madrid).

Screening: The Secret Life of Plants

Walon Green, USA, 1978, 95' DCP Presented by Diego Fernández and Eva F. Cortés April 15 at 7:00 PM – Sala Plató, Cineteca [Get tickets here]

Directed by Walon Green and based on the book by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird, The Secret Life of Plants (1979) explores the sensory, emotional, and communicative capacities of plant life. Featuring a score by Stevie Wonder, the film presents experiments suggesting that plants feel, respond to music, and communicate with humans.

As part of the festival, on Saturday, April 18, at Nave Una, musician Teo Lucadamo will perform a session reimagining Stevie Wonder’s album Journey Through "The Secret Life of Plants", the film's iconic soundtrack.

Screening: Mothers of the Land (Sembradoras de vida)

Álvaro Sarmiento, Diego Sarmiento, Peru, 2019, 74' DCP Presented by Aurora Carmenate Díaz April 16 at 7:00 PM – Sala Plató, Cineteca [Get tickets here]

The documentary Mothers of the Land follows five women from the Peruvian Andes in their daily struggle to maintain traditional, organic farming practices. In the Andean worldview, women and the earth are deeply interconnected; both the female body and the land are capable of giving life. In the current context of industrial agriculture, chemical pesticides, and GMO seeds, it is these women, connected to the earth in sisterhood, who take on the role of protectors.

The film will be introduced by curator and researcher Aurora Carmenate Díaz through the lens of “all lives” (todas las vidas). This concept—originally proposed by curator and poet Tamara Díaz Bringas—questions the boundaries between human and non-human lives, advocates for environmental justice, and views life as an interdependent, precarious, and vulnerable condition. By asking how to spread the message that "all lives matter," this perspective imagines desirable futures from a present where "not doing it alone" is a daily political gesture.

BIOGRAPHIES

EVA F. CORTÉS is a cultural communication professional with over 20 years of experience. A Journalism graduate from the Universidad Complutense, she has worked for outlets such as Antena 3, Vanidad, and MTV. She led the communication department for Red Bull’s culture and innovation events and currently directs fffea, her own press and content agency, working with institutions like Conde Duque and Círculo de Bellas Artes.

ELENA PÁEZ, founder of PLANTHAE, holds degrees in Anthropology and History and is an expert gardener and botanist. With postgraduate training in historic and botanical gardens, she focuses on the connection between humans and nature through the concept of biophilia. PLANTHAE serves as an innovative indoor gardening school and a hub for cultural projects centered on urban botanical heritage.

DIEGO FERNÁNDEZ is a journalist specializing in music and cultural communication. Former editor-in-chief of DJ MAG Spain, his career spans music curation and strategic development for platforms like TIDAL and festivals such as BIME (Last Tour). He is the co-director of NeighbourSoul Rhythms and currently collaborates with Biophest on artistic programming connecting music and sustainability.

AURORA CARMENATE DÍAZ (Cuba, 1993) is a researcher and curator. A former professor at the University of Havana and curator at El Apartamento gallery, she holds an MA in Contemporary Art History from the Museo Reina Sofía. She edited Tamara Díaz Bringas’s book of essays Todas las vidas (Consonni, 2024) and recently completed a research residency at the Reina Sofía Museum focusing on migrant imagination.

This activity is part of the 2nd Edition of Biophest Festival 2026. [View the full program here].

Image: Still from The Garden, Derek Jarman (1990).