Natura Urbana -The Brachen of Berlin

Join us for the first Cambridge screening of Natura Urbana - The Brachen of Berlin.

We are proud to present one of the first UK screenings of Natura Urbana: The Brachen of Berlin (UK/Germany, 72 mins) by Matthew Gandy.

The prize-winning documentary tells the post-war history of Berlin through its plants, as we encounter an extraordinary variety of spontaneous vegetation from all over the world that has sprouted along railway lines, on street corners, and in the distinctive Brachen of Berlin. The changing vegetation serves as a parallel history to war-time destruction, geopolitical division, and the newest phase of urban transformation.

In addition to stunning urban landscapes, and unknown or rarely seen archive footage, the film also features interviews with leading cultural and scientific figures from Berlin such as the botanist Herbert Sukopp and the actor and writer Hanns Zischler. The encounters with urban nature are set to a compelling acoustic atmosphere, along with diverse electronic music from the city including compositions by Thomas Fehlmann and Manfred Miersch.

View the trailer

Following the screening Matthew Gandy (Writer/Director) and Sandra Jasper (Executive Producer/Co-Writer) will be joined for a Q&A by Bill Adams (Moran Professor of Conservation and Development, Department of Geography, Cambridge).

Director: Matthew Gandy

Executive producers: Matthew Gandy and Sandra Jasper

Editor: Wiebke Hofmann

This screening is FREE, but requires an Eventbrite ticket. No ticket, no entry.

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC). For more details visit our project website https://www.rethinkingurbannature.org/

Details about the venue can be found here