meiofauna paradox

40 min I D 2022

The video recording is dedicated to a still largely unknown, very densely populated habitat in the gaps between the grains of sand, often on the border between sea and land, water and air. What is in a handful of sediment of millions of tiny animals is hard to believe in terms of species richness and peculiarities – millions of years old and little researched. When we go to the beach, we usually walk through this community without knowing it, which keeps the gaps between the wet grains of sand moving – all over the world. A mystery so far, often referred to as a paradox: how could such tiny animals with the same species populate such distant areas? Microscopic images blur proportions and relationships, the eyes can also stroll through the grains of sand and the inhabiting animals until it is no longer quite so sure what is big and what is small, whether we see something very close or very far away. Spherical music reinforces the impression of walking between planets populated by aliens that we might resemble.

Camera and editing: Doro Carl
Music by Ron Henseler and Peter Imig
professional advice from Werner Armonies

Thanks to Dr Alexander Fabig, Prof. Karsten Reise

Funded by the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Department for Culture and Media
with the kind support of AWI Wattenmeerstation Sylt, Leica Mikrosysteme Vertrieb GmbH

World premiere on Wednesday, August 31, 8:30 p.m.
Saturday 3 September 20:00
in the beach chair cinema at Dock 13 I Övelgönne Hamburg
in cooperation with FUTUR VI – Festival for Performance and Film

Introduction by Dr. Claudia Reiche • Video contribution by Prof. Dr. Susanne Heise