For What It's Worth

Original Title|For what it's worth

Documentary | 1' 10" | 2023 (Draft)

All images & Videos

(12 images)

Three stories about gold, from a working mine in the Philippines, a proposed mine in a Greek forest, and a laboratory in Belgium. Together, they form a meditation on the possible meanings of value.

synopsis

In the darkness of a gold mine, Filipino workers dig narrow tunnels and toil under heavy bags of ore. Above ground, the ore is crushed and refined. At the same time, in an ancient Greek forest, environmental activists protest against the construction of an opencast gold mine. They make banners, have long discussions and get involved in a fight with the police. At night, some activists remember an ancient Greek myth, and a goat gets lost in the forest. Meanwhile, in Belgium, scientists operate hypermodern microscopes. The environment is sterile and the work is partly automated. Powerful lenses and electron microscopes dig up images from a world of atoms.
Filippijnse arbeiders boren smalle tunnels en sleuren met zware zakken gouderts. Ondertussen strijden Griekse activisten tegen de bouw van een nieuwe goudmijn en verkennen Belgische wetenschappers het abstracte universum van goudatomen. Samen reflecteren de verschillende personages op een mogelijke betekenis van ‘waarde'.