Paradise Pt II is an ongoing research project with multiple outcomes amongst which are filmic installations, short films, a documentary film and a pedagogical strand.

Paradise Pt II explores how romantic and idyllic representations of nature have shaped Western perceptions and interactions with natural environments. This project investigates how such imagery, rooted in modernity and reinforced through visual culture, continues to influence our environmental consciousness by presenting nature as something separate from humanity, an object of beauty and a resource for consumption. As environmental challenges become increasingly pressing, re-examining these visual traditions takes on increased significance.

As documentary makers, we aim to critically engage with these visual traditions to challenge their inherited meanings and reframe them in ways that inspire alternative narratives. Through a series of concrete case studies, Paradise Pt II will explore the genealogy of romantic clichés and their impact, with the goal of subverting their allure and fostering more responsible, reciprocal relationships with the natural world.

A key idea in this research is the garden – and the notion of paradise – as a contested space. It is shaped by exclusion and control, but it also holds space for utopian dreams and alternative ways of imagining the world. This way of thinking connects to Michel Foucault’s concept of heterotopia, which describes the garden as a place that mirrors, reshapes, and questions wider cultural and natural landscapes. Within this analogy, the documentary filmmaker becomes a gardener, curating and assembling imagery of nature to nurture new perspectives on natural environments.

Production details:

A Studio Biarritz and Studio Kimmo production
Created by Mirka Duijn & Nina Spiering
Status: In development