MOVIE • 2013

Around Crab Orchard

Inharmonious balance, uncertain boundaries

Crab Orchard calls itself "a unique place to experience nature." As the only wildlife refuge in the United States whose mission includes industry and agriculture alongside conservation and recreation, Crab Orchard claims a harmonious balance between past and present, nature and culture. Assembled from documents, found footage, and conversations with activists, writers, and local residents, "Around Crab Orchard" questions the ideal of natural harmony while meditating on the persistence of history, the creation of knowledge, the limits of representation, and the commonplace of environmental hazard. "Around Crab Orchard" ultimately argues for forms of storytelling, image-making, and action that respond to the full complexity of the social and ecological landscape.