Seed Battles
Science & Scientists
•
50m
Directed by Kees Brouwer • Documentary • 2014 • 50 minutes
Hidden deep inside a massive mountain in inhospitable Spitsbergen, Norway, is the most important vault in the world: the Global Seed Vault. It is 20 degrees below zero and the vault is able to withstand earthquakes, floods, missile attacks and nuclear disaster.
The 'Doomsday Vault' as it is called, is the life's work of the inspired American professor Cary Fowler. It's mission is to be a 'backup' for as many of the world's crops as possible, and a toolbox for seed breeders.
This is vital, for by 2050 there will be 9 billion mouths to feed. But the success of the vault also shows its downside. The increasing strategic importance of seeds give rise to a fundamental debate: to whom do the seeds belong?
Up Next in Science & Scientists
-
Space Dogs
Directed by Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter • Documentary • 2020 • 91 minutes
Laika, a stray dog picked up by the Soviet space program on the streets of Moscow, became the first living being to orbit the earth when she was launched into space on Sputnik 2. Although Laika would not survive the journ...
-
Symbiotic Earth
Directed by John Feldman • Documentary • 2018 • 147 minutes
SYMBIOTIC EARTH explores the life and ideas of Lynn Margulis, a brilliant and radical scientist, whose unconventional theories challenged the male-dominated scientific community and are today fundamentally changing how we look at our se...
-
Time Thieves
Directed by Cosima Dannoritzer • Documentary • 2018 • 85 minutes
Who hasn’t come across the situation where an airline has us printing our own boarding passes and checking in our own luggage, saving the company a fortune in working hours? Who hasn’t spent hours assembling a piece of furniture, o...