Sparoza

Written / Directed by Catriona Gallagher

Logline
An experimental Greek garden and its keepers: three generations of women

Artist’s moving image/experimental documentary short
Duration: 18 min
Greece / UK
In pre-production – Supported by Onassis AiR and Onassis Big Short Films Seeking UK co-production

synopsis:  In Attica’s paradoxical landscape lies Sparoza, an experimental waterwise garden nurtured by three generations of women. Lucie, not long in Greece, finds herself thrust into the role of head gardener following the passing of Sally, Sparoza’s devoted custodian of thirty years. Six decades of rainfall records, meticulously kept by Jacky who established the garden and continued by Sally, bear witness to the gradual drying out of the garden and echo the broader climate crisis. The looming question of “when will the rain come” echoes within Sparoza’s walls. In the sweltering heat of midsummer, the presences of the garden’s keepers converge across time to grapple with existential challenges old and new. As the struggle against drought intensifies, the volunteers rush not only to preserve the legacy of Sparoza but also to pass on its teachings to future generations, drawing on Sally & Jacky’s joint wisdom.

info about the process: This experimental documentary film will be shot on 16mm, both lab-processed colour film and hand-processed black & white film using plant-based developers. This is the core idea, to film the women gardeners weeding and cutting plants, which are then boiled into the photochemical developer to process the negatives. This method uses the oxalis plant and other common weeds in the garden to make plant infusions, in the same recipe as caffenol developer, adding soda and vitamin C to the plants. This technique was also used in Catriona Gallagher’s 2024 film ‘Daphne was a torso ending in leaves’ developed in bay laurel leaves, which won the KNF award at International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2024.