30. Okt. – 2. Nov. 2025
BEYOND Festival

In PLANTASIA, we follow Michelle, a solo activist, through the streets of Stuttgart and its surroundings. By day, Michelle works on a cactus farm. By night, Michelle ride through the suburbs on a red recumbent bike, attacking gravel gardens with a self-built seed-ball gun. Michelle's mission: relentless renaturation of lifeless spaces—no compromises.

At night, Michelle sometimes evokes a "Badman" figure; the gun between the legs invites phallic associations while bringing lush plants to life. A fight against windmills that simultaneously raises the question: What if activism could truly change everything?

Director Biography - Marius Schwingel, Nola Anwar, Janna Häcker

Marius Schwingel, Janna Häcker and Nola Anwar got to know and love each other while studying together at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. Marius and Janna are studying directing with a focus on documentary film, Nola is studying screenwriting, and making a mockumentary together seemed like a logical consequence of their different specializations.

Director Statement

“Plantasia” sees itself as a cinematic experiment in which the boundaries between documentary and scenic film become blurred. It is important to us to deal reflexively with the cinematic medium and to offer a revelation within the exaggeration. We see the main character's activism as having the potential to encourage people to dream and act.