A self-isolated young human known as "James" delves into the hidden world of microscopic organisms, forging a tender connection with these nearly invisible creatures and developing a massive online following, as he seeks to understand his own place in the cosmos and accept the scars of his past.
A film made in collaboration with James, with a screenplay adapted from the verbatim Instagram posts of James, starring James as James.
Qualified for the 2025 Academy Awards Raindance Film Festival2024, Best Documentary Short Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2024, Honorable Mention Santa Fe International Film Festival 2024, Special Jury Prize: Best Short Documentary Dallas International Film Festival 2024, Grand Jury Prize Athens International Film and Video Festival 2024, ’From the Booth’ Award DeadCenter Film Festival 2024, 'Special Jury Prize: Best Short' Brooklyn Film Festival 2024, Best Original Score Evolution Mallorca International Film Festival 2024, Best International Documentary Short Science New Wave Festival 2024, 'In Vivo Award' All Things Environmental Film Festival 2024, Best International Short Film Cannes Indie Shorts Awards 2024, Best Documentary Short NYC Indie Shorts Awards 2024, Best Documentary Short Centre Film Festival 2024, Best Cinematography Doc.Berlin 2024, Best Poetic Documentary Film
Additional Festivals:
Camden International Film Festival 2024 Palm Springs International Shortfest 2024 Galway Film Fleadh 2024 Leeds International Film Festival 2024 EnergaCAMERIMAGE 2024 Hamptons International Film Festival 2024 Florida Film Festival 2024 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival 2024 Nashville Film Festival 2024 BendFilm 2024 Sidewalk Film Festival 2024 St Louis International Film Festival 2024 Interfilm Berlin 2024 KUKI Berlin 2024 Edmonton International Film Festival 2024 Walla Walla 2024 Hollywood Climate Summit 2024 NewFilmmakers Los Angeles 2024 Dublin International Film Festival 2025 Sedona International Film Festival 2025
Cast/Crew:
Starring: James Weiss as James Weiss Director/Editor: Spencer MacDonald Creative Producer: Pascal Duschletta Production Companies: Avocados and Coconuts & Tasty Pictures EP: Dalia Burde & Lea Fee CD: Amani King DP: Fabian Kimoto Original Music: Dan Deacon Audio: UKO the Audio Suite Color: Didrik Bråthen @TMLS Intro VFX: Buralqy Closing VFX: Ennio Ruschetti @ Das Alte Lager Service Production Poland: Papaya Films Producer: Karolina Kordecka Production Manager: Katarzyna Kordecka 1st AD: Katarzyna Iskra Production Designer: Anna Knittel Cahlo Gaffer: Michal ‘Lary’ Kruk (+ Many more talented people who gave their time for this labor of love)
Director’s Statement:
This film began a couple of years ago when my friend Eva Verbeeck and I first came across James’ Instagram. I was charmed by the creatures he was able to film through his microscope and the tender lens through which he narrated their lives. I was particularly intrigued by how he would also narrate his own life in the third person and the way he was sharing his journey with therapy. After dozens of phone calls, I came to know James as one of the most sensitive, loving humans I have ever met—a person who has been through the lowest lows and is yet still able to connect to the magic of this life.
We embarked on making a film that would be a blend of documentary and fiction, one in which all of the words that made up the script came directly from what he himself had written in his Instagram posts and stories. From there, we made a storyboard, and James was all set to be the star in a film about his life.
Two-thirds of life on this planet is invisible to the human eye, and yet we know so little about it. We wonder if there are aliens beyond Earth, but we can see them right below us through a microscope: rotifers, water bears, paramecia, ciliates. This film offers a perspective on the usually overlooked phenomena of the natural world, presented through the lens of a gentle human who is processing c-PTSD via a warm connection with these beings.
