DIRECTED BY

Mike Gibisser and Mary Helena Clark

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SYNOPSIS

An interconnected look at tradition, colonialism, property, faith, and science, as seen through labour practices that link an endangered salamander, mass-produced apples, and the evolving fields of genomics and machine learning.

A Common Sequence is a documentary directed by Mike Gibisser and Mary Helena Clark. The documentary examines the shifts of life and labor through a critically-endangered salamander and plant patents in the apple industry. Weaving the stories of Dominican nuns running a conservation lab, a group of fisherman attempting to live off of a depleting lake, engineers developing AI-driven harvesting machines, and an indigenous biomedical researcher resisting the commodification of human DNA, the documentary explores the shifting border between the natural and unnatural world, and the dynamics of power at play.

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When reading that this documentary was tagged with the ‘experimental’ label, I did initially become worried as within the first eight to ten minutes, I found it to see what was happening on screen, as we followed someone late at night, or very early morning, making his way to the lake and we then learn that they’re fishermen out to do some work. Mike Gibisser and Mary Helena Clark certainly let these scenes with the fisherman, and later with the nun’s as well as AI machines harvesting apples, breathe and let the viewer absorb the information that is delivered on screen. Whether that works for audiences will depend on their personal preference. For me, the structure of its narrative didn’t really work for me, and there’s one sequence in particular that went on way to long involving the apples that also should’ve come with a flash light warning as I definitely struggled with that.

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However, the information about the salamander and the reason behind why they’re on the verge of complete extinction (though it is explained how in one particular region they are totally extinct), is both interesting and horrifying to learn in equal measure, exploring how mankind’s use of scientific exploration for, in one particular case, human advancement, has a major blowback on nature. It also explores the theme of colonialism and sense of entitlement/ownership through the art of science, but I felt like I wanted the documentary to dive further into that angle.

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VERDICT

A Common Sequence certainly brings us some interesting information about the dangers of scientific advancement, however I wasn’t particularly a fan of how the documentary was structured.

★★½