Gardening is a surreal, fantastical animation about the relationship between healing and justice.
In the aftermath of sexual assault, a woman retreats into the garden of her mind. Searching for answers and struggling to do 'the right thing', she realises that she must regain her voice and find new paths to healing, before she and her garden are destroyed completely.
Back story
Gardening is a cinematic journey ten years in the making, guided by director Sarah Beeby. What took root in 2014 as an animated documentary exploring the truth behind the Oscar Wilde quote "Everything in life is about sex, except sex, which is about power," grew into a tale about Beeby's personal quest for healing following an experience of sexual assault.
Originally known as Bloom, the project was awarded the Rooftop Films Short Film Grant and then a research fellowship at the Centre for The Study of Genders and Sexualities at California State University. It was during this time that the project changed its name from Bloom to Gardening to better reflect the perennial nature of healing.
In 2020, producer Jo Lewis came on board to help make the film. Beeby took Gardening to The Animation Workshop’s International Artist Residency in Denmark with the intention of finishing. However, during the residency received news that she and Lewis had been invited to a funding interview at The British Film Institute. Gardening was selected for development, and writer Louisa Wood then joined the project to help refine the unconventional storytelling style and mysterious world logic. Gardening was awarded full production funding from the British Film Institute in 2021, which enabled a phenomenally talented cast and crew to come on board to finish the project. Gardening was finally completed at Molinare post-production in March 2024.
