What is this project all about?

Terra preta is the most fertile soil on this earth. Unfortunately, for a long time, it was well hidden in the tropical rainforest of the Amazon. But, thanks to the work of many inexhaustible researchers, we now know its origin: Over centuries, the people of the Amazon mixed their excrement with charcoal and fermented the mixture hermetically. After the fermentation, earth worms transformed the waste into soil, thus replacing the meagre tropical soil with a permanently fertile soil.

There have already been several documentary films on the topic of terra preta, such as:"Terra Preta - Das schwarze Gold des Amazonas" (trans: Terra Preta – the Black Gold of the Amazon) from ARTE (joint German and French state television) and "Die Wiederentdeckung der Terra-Preta" (trans: The Rediscovery of Terra Preta) from ZDF (German state television). But, up to now, no one has dared to produce a film that touches on the importance of excrement for terra preta! There is a social taboo surrounding this aspect, one that we intend to flush far into the off-stream. Normally it is the mainstream that is shit!

In Undune, we will deal explicitly with Terra preta toilets. How can we broach this complex topic, with all its taboos, through the medium of documentary film? How can we make a film on this topic that is not only informative but also entertaining? Naturally, in an unconventional manner!

The film follows a fictional character, Gregor, during his research into terra preta toilets. He interviews developers and users of terra preta toilets. The interviews won't be fragmented, as is the case in many documentaries. This allows for an emphasis on the personalities of the interviewees. Because Gregor is always part of the action, we avoid frontal situations - used extensively in conventional documentaries. Both these methods make it easier for the audience to question the interviewees and come to their own conclusions.

Between the interview scenes, a story based around the settlement of Mars develops. Gregor is thrilled by the adventurous spirit of space travel. He is particularly fascinated by the attempt to undertake a manned mission to Mars. For him, terra preta toilets – that his father helped to develop – are an amazing innovation, one that would allow for the recycling of human waste products on Mars.

This interest explains his motivation to discover as much as possible about terra preta toilets, giving the content of the interviews a new dimension: On a permanently settled Mars station it is necessary to treat all resources as sustainably as possible. It becomes clear that it is necessary to think about all waste products. With this approach, we hope to make our audience more comfortable with the topic.

The scenes between the interviews have another useful function: They allow Gregor to think over the content of the interviews. He also carries out his own investigations. Using time-lapse photography he is able to document the development of terra preta. We also see him drawing a detailed plan for a Mars station. This creates a summary of the most important ideas.

In order to present the topic fully, in our somewhat unconventional manner, Undune will be about one hour long. To prevent loosing the attention of our audience, by flooding them with information, we have planned several intermittent scenes.

In addition to getting to know Gregor, we will encounter a stranded space traveller. He recounts his observations of the earth with a naive enthusiasm. He also gets into some pretty strange situations. This allows for a new perspective on our human behaviour.

Using animation we create a connection to Frank Herbert's “Dune”: Mars is the desert planet and the worms create the soil. The title “Dune” also gave us the inspiration for the title of our film. With Un-Dune we allude to the process of making a desertified area fertile again.

Along with Mars stations, we show writhing earth worms, scurrying soil life, micro-organisms - all in explicit beauty - as well as a toilet, hidden away on a Mars spaceship.

We are very lucky to be able to work with the wonderful musician and theatre artist, Tobias Morgenstern. Tobias Morgenstern, a founder of the theatre “Theater am Rand”, will envelope our film in music.