A filmmaker and free-time botanist seeks to capture the passion of fruit cultivation that was once the central economic activity in his home region in the western part of Slovenia. Meeting old farmers, he learns about their intimate relationship with fruit trees, which expands from memories and dreams to fantasy and myths. Inspired by these encounters, he embarks on a journey that takes him from the valleys of the Slovenian-Italian borderland to the burned-down citrus orchards in Sicily and the gigantic wholesale fruit market on the outskirts of Barcelona. 

In the meantime in Tokyo, while researching archives of histology and cytology, a Japanese biologist Ms Yasui stumbles upon a puzzling document about the “Montemaggiore Pear Case”. Written by the Yugoslav secret militia in the mid 1960s, the enigmatic course of events linked with a fast-growing pear tree challenges all her scientific knowledge about nature's ability to defy the passing of time. 

By investigating the heritage of fruit cultivation and the collective memories fruits hold within people, the respective journeys of two strangers become increasingly existential. Human-centred perspective and its corresponding narratives that were previously held unequivocal start to attenuate.

Tales of Fruits and Monsters

docu-fiction film by Gregor Božič & Marina Gumzi,
based on the field research carried out by Gregor Božič between 2008 and 2020,
currently in development

photos: Gregor Božič (1,3), Jane Alden Stevens (2)