The Kirlian Witness

The Plants Are Watching, A Film Screening

Sunday, August 25, 2019 - 6:00pm

 

Sunday, August 25, 2019

6:00 P.M. Reception, 7:00 P.M. Screening

$13 General / $11 VPES Member

THE KIRLIAN WITNESS (aka THE PLANTS ARE WATCHING, 1979) Screening

Co-presented by UCLA Film & Television Archive, the Velaslavasay Panorama, the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies, and Atlas Obscura

Can spider plants sense pain? Is fern telepathy feasible? The empathic, ecophilic Laurie (Nancy Boykin) thinks so, most days eschewing human interactions in favor of quality time with her fiddle-leaf fig tree. After a sudden tragedy, her sister Rilla (Nancy Snyder), a photographer and the film's narrator, subsumes Laurie's plant obsession, believing that certain secrets lie within their leaves. Beautifully shot by João Fernandes (Bloodrage), The Kirlian Witness is a botanical thriller of dendritic proportions, and an essential entry in the tiny but rich horticultural horror canon. 

Enjoy a pre-screening reception and plant sale in the gardens of the Velaslavasay Panorama from 6 P.M. onwards. Film program begins at 7 P.M.

This screening is held in conjunction with several city-wide events celebrating Sacred Bones Records’ re-release of Mort Garson’s classic 1976 electronic concept album, Mother Earth’s Plantasia. Events in this series include Atlas Obscura’s Plantasia listening party at the UCLA Botanical Gardens on August 10th and The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies’ multi-media class Murder Season: Crime-Solving Plants and Other Vegetal Horrors on September 12 at the Philosophical Research Society.

 

Images from the event

 

This event is  supported,  in  part,  by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture and the Department of Cultural Affairs of the City of Los Angeles