Mare's Nest

MARE’S NEST is a thrilling cinematic journey into a post- apocalyptic utopia that celebrates the boundless wisdom and imagination of children. Inspired in part by Don DeLillo’s one-act play The Word for Snow, it unfolds as a series of epiphanies rather than a linear narrative. Moon, the captivating Moon Guo Barker, is our fearless guide. She survives a car crash unscathed, walks along a deserted road and engages a tortoise in a dialogue on evolution. With serene detachment, she roams through sublime yet desolate vistas, where the rusting remnants of the industrial age surface, following an invisible path and exchanging ideas with those she meets. Children in rags—grimy, earnest, wise and free from rules— cross her path, living in joyful anarchy, inventing new games and rituals. Adults appear only once, trapped in a dark cave, a haunting image of pain and sin frozen in time. Shot on 16mm that alternates between colour and black and white and with an immersive, vibrating soundscape, Ben Rivers’ visual poem ultimately arrives at a place of hope; in this world of children, beauty and humanity have returned. Moon’s sly smile as she drives off in a new car only seals the promise. (Maria Giovanna Vagenas)

In the presence of Ben Rivers.

Ben Rivers: WE THE PEOPLE (2004, K), THIS IS MY LAND (2006, K), AH, LIBERTY! (2008, K), SLOW ACTION (2010), TWO YEARS AT SEA (2011), A SPELL TO WARD OFF THE DARKNESS (2013, CO-DIRECTOR), THINGS (2014), THE SKY TREMBLES AND THE EARTH IS AFRAID AND THE TWO EYES ARE NOT BROTHERS (2015), THE RARE EVENT (2017, KO-REGIE), GHOST STRATA (2019), KRABI, 2562 (2019, CO-DIRECTOR), LOOK THEN BELOW (2019, K), AFTER WORK (2022, K, CO-DIRECTOR), BOGANCLOCH (2024)