Eden

Created by Robyn Forsythe, The Pitch 2017

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Description

EDEN is a fantasy-drama set in a post-apocalyptic future where animals no longer exist. EDEN grows up in a barren landscape. Food is scarce. Her tribe scrapes by. Now a drought pushes them to the limit. Animals are now stories told to children. But EDEN’s mother BEKKAH tells her animals still exist. She spins them in clay and teaches EDEN their names. EDEN’S father TOMOR finds the clay animals and throws them on his bonfire, calling them fairytales. But if he’s right, what leaves the paw print in the ash the next morning? When BEKKAH dies EDEN’S world shatters. Desperate, EDEN goes in search of the lost animals, convinced BEKKAH is with them. As she crosses the plains, exhausted and grieving, she uncovers their tracks. Are they really there? Were they ever real? And if she finds them, can Eden care for the animals better than her ancestors? EDEN will be shot in Enkiito, Kenya. The making of this story will not only produce a magical, moving short film – but create a lasting effect on the lives of those involved, both for the Maasai of Enkiito, and the UK film-makers bringing Eden’s story to life. Robyn: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3906720/ Anna: http://cargocollective.com/annahoghton

Biblical Connection

Eden takes her name from the bible story that inspires this futuristic fable. The irony is stark, however, as this post apocalyptic-future is certainly not a paradise. Instead, this is the post-Eden landscape Adam and Eve were thrown into after they ate the apple. The barren future is full of technology, but driven by knowledge and man’s desire to conquer, man has destroyed all that is beautiful or good in the world. The people have died spiritually; they have betrayed the creatures they were given to take care of. BEKKAH’s role as a potter reflects God’s role as The Potter crafting everything on Earth from clay. BEKKAH reminds EDEN that man’s body is only dust and her words reflect the Biblical text of Genesis 3:19: ‘till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return’. The animal names that BEKKAH teaches EDEN, which EDEN later has to remember, evoke Adam’s original naming of the animals and birds in the Genesis 2:19-20. Anna and Robyn made “Never Land”, based on the story of Noah, which is currently screening in festivals across the globe: http://www.unionpictures.tv/never-land