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Apple Cider Vinegar film image; woman examines small marble with magnifying glass

Apple Cider Vinegar

Spectrum

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Canadian Premiere

Upon finding the rare Antarctic mineral Weddellite in her kidney stone, a retired nature documentary narrator is inspired to return to the field to tell one last story. She invites us to join her in exploring the hidden world of stones: where Palestinian granite quarry workers unearth ancient fish fossils, and geologists in the UK linger by roadcuts to examine meteorite pieces. In Cape Verde, Fogo islanders inhabit homes partially engulfed in volcanic rock, while along the beaches of Cornwall, an artist assumes the daily task of picking up shards of plastic waste to remold into sculptures.

Buoyed by Siân Phillips’ affably soothing voiceover performance, director Sophie Benoot’s quirky hybrid essay film offers up both a micro- and macroscopic view of the mesmerizing connections between geological structures and living beings. In turns thought-provoking, droll, and affecting, Apple Cider Vinegar gently nudges the viewer to contemplate ecological grief, while training our eyes to find beauty in unexpected places.

Apple Cider Vinegar is an essay film if there ever was one, at the intersection of Chris Marker and Patrício Guzman for its philosophical gravitas and Agnès Varda and Laurie Anderson for its playfulness.

Diego Semerene, Slant Magazine

Director
Featuring

Siân Phillips

Credits
Country of Origin

Belgium/Netherlands

Year

2024

Language

In English, Arabic and Portuguese with English subtitles and open captions

Film Contact
Links
18+
84 min
Art, Music & Photography Documentary Women Directors
Inti Films, Pieter van Huystee Film

Book Tickets

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Credits & Director

Executive Producer

Peter Krüger

Producer

Peter Krüger

Screenwriter

Sofie Benoot

Cinematography

Jonathan Wannyn

Editor

Sofie Benoot, Liyo Gong

Original Music

Guillaume Graux

Sofie Benoot headshot; Apple Cider Vinegar director

Sofie Benoot

Sofie Benoot (Bruges, 1985) lives and works in Brussels. Her films are patchworks of different stories, carefully assembled to reveal hidden connections. Fronterismo (2007), Blue Meridian (2010) and Desert Haze (2014) played at Visions du Réel (Switzerland), Camden International Film Festival (USA), Torino FD (Italy), and BAFICI (Argentina). Benoot teaches in the Film master’s programme at LUCA School of Arts in Brussels. She co-directed Victoria (2020), which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and won the Caligari Prize.

Filmography: Fronterismo (2007); Blue Meridian (2010); Desert Haze (2014); Victoria (2020)

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