Event #3


I had the extreme pleasure to attend Jessica Irish's event on May 12th where she showcased her short documentary film, This Mortal Plastik. I absolutely loved this event as I think this is my favorite event so far. I strongly encourage everyone to watch her short documentary as it is very eye opening and shows how much we are affected by plastic. As an aspiring film student I loved Jessica Irish's post watch party Q & A, where she did a mini behind the scenes of how she went through the process of making this beautiful film.

Jessica Irish's film was all about plastic and how it is affecting our lives. She talks about the history of plastic and the origin of the word plastic is plassein which means to mold or shape. Plastics literally are able to mold or shape themselves into whatever we need, whether they become bottles, containers, lids, or bags these plastics are shaped to what fits our needs. Plastics are also molding our lives and shaping how we live be becoming reliable on their uses, which when disposed of the wild life gets stuck with plastic. Our oceans are filled with plastic and are harming our marine life. Whales are unfortunately consumer large amounts of plastic when trying to eat and this is harming our ecosystems. Plastic has become the fourth kingdom of the world, alongside animal, mineral, and vegetable.

Outside of her message in the film, I was in awe of her process of making the film. When trying to start this film she had to come up with a reason to why she was doing it and asked herself why plastic and why do I care? She created a film research book where she kept all of her finds of why plastics were harming animals, our oceans, and overall our human lives. She was questioned by her daughter to why she cares and Jessica decided to personally connect with the heart of a whale to make them more human. 

My favorite aspect was the visual representation of hands in the film and how they were animated. Jessica Irish's response to why the hands were like this was, "skin is temporary and plastic will outlast us." I think tis is a brilliant connection and symbolic meaning of the hands that are used as a visual narrator throughout the film.

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