Llaima Sanfiorenzo (And Still The Seed)

Joshua Polanski interviews the director of And Still The Seed, a "decidedly anti-colonial" film about the bond between trees and people; they talk about Llaima's native Puerto Rico, trees older than Christopher Columbus, non-human life as film protagonists, and much more!

Llaima Suwani Sanfiorenzo is a Puerto Rican filmmaker and interdisciplinary artist. She was born in Florida and raised in the countryside of the Caribbean island. She studied at the International School of Film and Television in San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba. She won a scholarship to study cinematography in Potsdam, near the German capital. Since 2014, she worked as a cinematographer and film producer on various short films. Her directorial debut And Still the Seed, which premiered at the Atlanta Film Festival earlier this year. Our writer Joshua Polanski – who now interviews Llaima – argues that the filmmaker “skilfully connects the destruction of Puerto Rican greenery with colonialism and colonialism’s economic cousin, capitalism”

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Joshua Polanski – What was the seed that started And Still the Seed?

Llaima Sanfiorenzo – The film is a commissioned work made with love and purpose. I was invited by an organisation in Puerto Rico focused on planting trees to create a meaningful piece, named Para la Naturaleza, who at the same time were invited to an Environmental Film Festival and needed a film to show up. As a filmmaker, I saw an opportunity to go beyond the initial commission and craft my own vision, incorporating the aesthetics I’ve developed in Puerto Rico, Cuba and Germany where I have made my career as a filmmaker. The producer of the film, Rígel Lugo, just called me directly and said you are the person to make this film, and I know it will be great. That trust built this film.

JP – Where did you find the inspiration for the imagined voice of a 600-year-old tree?

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