22:09

In the first sequences of the film a story is told about the ancient, now extinct, plant Silphium. Famous for it’s medical usage, its importance for the economic wealth was so crucial that the image of Silphium was imprinted on the coins. When exploitation of the plant led to extinction, the city declined. As is often the case in Selander´s works, the film builds on layers of images and meaning. The human strive for development and expansion, the desire for control over nature, and above all – visual control, depiction and surveillance, is always met by another contradicting force. The nature looks back at us, its eyes empty – a reoccurring image in Selander´s film.