IN THE REALM OF THE GARDEN
short non-fiction
In production; 16mm
In the Realm of the Garden (working title), focuses on the histories and landscapes of the historic California Missions. The film looks at how colonial history of the Missions was obscured through their transformation into ‘pleasure gardens.’ It considers the production of Mission landscapes as colonizing spaces; how built environments are used to romanticize and distance the past; and how the history of California Missions was co-opted through aesthetic means.
The film is loosely structured around a fictional Virtual Reality tour which immerses visitors into a view of these spaces as they existed originally - as sites where indigenous populations lived and worked.