Humboldt USA

G. Anthony Svatek (Dir), 89 minutes, USA, Western New York Premiere

In English + German w/ English subtitles.

Director/Producer G. Anthony Svatek and Director of Photography/Producer Sean Hanley in attendance.

Countless places across the United States still bear the name of Alexander von Humboldt — queer naturalist, visionary ecologist, now largely forgotten. The longing filmmaker uses three of them as unlikely common ground, weaving Humboldt's own words through present-day lives: on Humboldt Parkway in Buffalo NY, urban activists green neglected neighborhoods, in Humboldt Redwoods CA, scientists scan redwood forests, and in Humboldt County NV, hunters return bighorn sheep to protected land. Across generations and landscapes, HUMBOLDT USA explores the remains of Humboldt's vision of “interconnectedness.” What arises is a kaleidoscopic portrait of archaic, emerging, and occasionally absurd strategies to “preserve” nature in America, asking whether the tools used to understand the world meet the scale of our ecological crises.