Series (4 Episodes available)
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Director(s):
VIVES (François-Xavier)
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Producer(s):
ARTE FRANCE
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Territories:
Worldwide.
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Production year:
2009
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Language(s):
German, English, French
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Rights:
TV, DVD, NON-THEATRICAL, INTERNET, VOD
To most of us, plants make up a familiar background decoration, albeit a beautiful one, but we don't really pay them that much attention, nor do we know much that about them. This collection is an invitation to discover more about four common plants and their astonishing properties.
Scientists, farmers, economists and sociologists will help us to view the Nettle, the Arabis, the Yew and the Lotus in a different light, as they reveal the plants' uses and new technological, medical, economic and social properties. The collection features interviews with geneticists, the head gardener at the Chateau of Versailles, an Indian industrialist and an Australian botanist, among other professionals, as they invite us into their laboratories, on their expeditions to the ends of the earth, or quite simply, around their gardens.
At a time when our society is in full reflection on its relationship to biodiversity, we travel the world to discover in what way these plants have become our partners in life.
We delve into the secret life of four ordinary plants, and discover their "extraordinary" side:
- the nettle, a symbol of the fight against merchandising living things
- the lotus, a tool-box for tomorrow's technologies, inspired by nature
- the yew, a medicinal tree, the new "green gold" threatened by over-exploitation
- the arabis, a little-known plant that has become the new worldwide star of genetic research