Human Flowers of Flesh

Ida lives with a crew of five on a sailing yacht. During a shore leave in Marseille, the French Foreign Legion attracts Ida’s attention and she sets herself a new goal. Via Corsica, where the largest regiment of the Legion is stationed, the route leads to the Algerian town of Sidi-Bel-Abbes, which served as the Legion’s headquarter until the country gained independence in 1962. On their journey, Ida and her crew do not only breakthrough geographical borders. The past is reflected in the present, different languages seek their common ground, bacteria and fungi penetrate the film material and social hierarchies are reshaped. With every day of the journey, the different layers of narration become increasingly interwoven. The film traces connections and conditions that describe our present and therefore takes an example from the sea. As the origin of all life, the sea contains all information about it, but in the constant transition from one state to the next it can never be determined.