Jess Irish (Associate Professor of Design & Technology ) won the “Best Director of a Documentary Short” award this week for her lyrical non-fiction film “This Mortal Plastik” at its theatrical debut in the Chain NYC Film Festival. Made during sabbatical during the lockdown, Irish’s new film will be screened online at the Florida Environmental Festival September 4-8, 2021, and locally at the Imagine Science Festival, Wildlife Conservation Film Festival, and Docs Without Borders.
Details can be found on her website or on Instagram @j.essirish.
This Mortal Plastik (2021) is a personal dive into the world’s most impersonal substance: plastics. Amid the lockdown, a bereaved mother unfolds a surprising journey within and across oceans to understand the contemporary landscape of single-use synthetics. From the noble intentions behind its invention to the scales of havoc it has wrought, this experimental documentary brings together art, history, science, and the everyday. Playfully crafted with hand-drawn illustrations and poetic interludes, this evocative “pause between deep time and no time” will change how you think about this ordinary “thing without thingness.”
