To Pick A Flower / Cortar una flor

Shireen Seno 2021 Philippines English w/ Spanish subtitles 17 minutes Distribution: Shireen Seno (shireenseno@gmail.com)

My mother used to tell me that our dining table was as old as I am. I wonder how old the tree was when it was cut down to be turned into our table. I am fascinated by this kind of transmutation from the natural world to the human one, and how a tree takes on new lives long after it has been cut down. This short film essay incorporates archival photographs from the American Colonial Era in the Philippines (1898–1946) to explore the sticky relationship between humans and nature and the entanglements of both with Empire. Taking plants and trees as starting points, it aims to reflect on the intertwined roots of photography and capitalism in the Philippines.