The Invisible Valley
Immersed within the landscapes of California’s Central Valley, the film shows the impact of environmental change on the bodies and minds of its residents who are also responsible for feeding the rest of America. The film asks how do our bodies reflect the environment and how will we address climate change through medicine?
An immersive portrait of California’s Central Valley, The Invisible Valley captures life in the most polluted place in America – which is also the world’s most productive agricultural region. With the intensifying environment hanging over every moment, the film depicts the everyday struggle to survive in the place that feeds us all. Told through intimate observational scenes that transform into surreal poetic chapters of farm labor, mechanized harvesting, asthma clinics, ambulances and living rooms, the film shows the intimate, everyday reality of environmental change on the body and mind.
Through a chorus of characters, we hope to create a multi-sensory experimental approach inspired by sensory ethnography to deal with pollution, climate change and healthcare that is ultimately still a very human film. The goal is for the film to be visceral, experiential and embodied – both of the characters and the land.