ENCOUNTERS 2024: MY MERCURY (with Q&A)

Every year since our founding in 2010, The Bioscope has proudly hosted screenings of The Encounters South African International Documentary Festival. Now over 25 years old as a festival, Encounters returns to The Bioscope once again with screenings from 21 June - 30 July. Tickets are R80. For more information on the festival as a whole, please visit encounters.co.za

SEE THE FULL BIOSCOPE SCHEDULE FOR ENCOUNTERS HERE

MY MERCURY

Joëlle Chesselet & Piper Erlich | United Kingdom/South Africa | 2024 | 98 min

Set on the remote Mercury Island, off the coast of Namibia, My Mercury explores the life of Yves, a conservationist whose sole purpose is to protect the endangered gannet and penguin colonies on the island from the threat of invasive seals. Since the 19^th century, a history of exploitation through the harvesting of guano for fertiliser, and later industrial fishing practices, resulted in the decline of the seabird population by 90%, leaving it vulnerable to the invasion of seals which threaten their ecosystem, reproductive practices, and survival. With footage drawn from Yves personal video archives, and diary entries from his time on the island, a portrait of personal sacrifice against the harshness of the wilderness emerges as Yves ventures on a journey to save the seabirds. Through a reflective and tender lens, My Mercury captures a dialogue between man and nature, and whether the ends justifies the means.