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The Nettle, for a Wilder Garden Série-Collection : Secrets de plantes
François-Xavier Vives
2010 - 43 min - HDCam - Couleur et Noir & Blanc - France
Ever since a decree banning commercialization and use of nettle-based products was passed in France on the 1st of July in 2006, a pitched battle has been declared: the “nettle war” in which gardeners, growers and landscapers have engaged. As an act of resistance, they claim the virtues of the nettle and obstinately keep growing them.
The plant has thus become a symbol of freedom, of defiance in the face of the giants of the agrochemical industry and its influential lobbies. The frustration is even more acute seeing as the plant does hold exceptional qualities: the richness of its chemical components, the valorisation of its fibres, regardless of its role as a major environmental actor… The movie takes us on an enigmatic journey through the Australian rainforest to the alleys of the Versailles castle and unveils the various issues, places and actors of this "resistance".
Author-Director : François-Xavier Vives
Photography : Emmanuel Roy
Sound : Julien Chaumat, Michel Adamik
Editing : Alexandre Besson, François-Xavier Vives
Delegate Producer : Le Miroir Productions
Co-producer : CNRS Images
Co-producer : Museum national d'histoire naturelle (MNHN)
Broadcasting Co-producer : ARTE France
Contribution : Procirep, Angoa-Agicoa, Ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche, Région Poitou-Charentes, Conseil général des Deux-Sèvres