On the Invention of Species

(La INVENCIÓN de las ESPECIES)
Tania Hermida | Drama

2024 | 91 minutes | Ecuador

Grieving her brother’s death, 12-year-old Carla arrives in the Galápagos and reinvents herself as Isla, learning to adapt, heal, and find her voice.

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Synopsis

Twelve-year-old Carla arrives in the Galápagos with her father, a biologist who studies the conservation of endangered species. Still grieving the death of her older brother, Carla has lost her ability to express herself through words. While her father attends a conference on species conservation and evolution, she begins to explore the island on her own, adopting a new identity: Isla.

Over seven days, Carla encounters Wiki, a boy her age, and Darwin, a local teenager, and together they venture into the landscapes and stories of the Galápagos. She also meets Harriet, a mysterious healer who understands the power of storytelling and words to help us make sense of the world. As Carla moves between friendship, imagination, science, and the natural environment around her, the islands become a space where she can confront her grief and begin to understand her own transformation.

Tania Hermida's lyrical coming-of-age film weaves together Darwin's theory of evolution, the biblical story of Genesis, and the storytelling traditions of "The Thousand and One Nights" to explore grief, identity, friendship, language, and the human capacity to adapt. Shot entirely on location in the Galápagos Islands, On the Invention of Species transforms the archipelago into both a living laboratory of evolution and a landscape for a young girl's journey toward healing.

Reviews

“In this stunningly lensed lyrical debut, Tania Hermida deftly toys with parables while exploring the evolving relationship between man and nature.” — Cinema Tropical.

“A poetic coming-of-age story about a girl who finds her voice and the purpose of living again.” — International Jury, Cineuropa.

“The decision to set the entire story in the magical atmosphere of the Galápagos Islands demonstrates Tania Hermida’s ability to make the pristine, wild nature of the island a fundamental component of the story.” — Festival del Cinema Ibero-Latino Americano di Trieste.

“Three books—Charles Darwin’s ‘On the Origin of Species’, the Bible, and ‘One Thousand and One Nights’—inspired Ecuadorian filmmaker Tania Hermida to create ‘The Invention of Species’, a film shot in the Galápagos Islands that reveals a more human side of an archipelago famous for its biodiversity.” — EFE

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Keywords
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Festivals

San Francisco International Film Festival - Sloan Science on Screen Award Recipient; Havana Film Festival - Best Original Soundtrack; Chicago Latino Film Festival; Punta del Este International Film Festival - Audience Award, Best Feature; Pune International Film Festival; Cartagena International Film Festival; Havana Film Festival in New York; Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People - Best Film; Trieste Ibero-American Film Festival - Best Screenplay

DIRECTOR: Tania Hermida

NATIONALITY: Ecuador

YEAR: 2024

GENRE: Drama

LANGUAGE: Spanish

COLOR / B&W: Color

GRADE LEVEL: Middle School, High School, College, Adult

SUBTITLE/CC: AVAILABLE

AUDIO DESCRIPTION: NOT AVAILABLE

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