Cooking with the planet

Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden (NL), 2019

Deep beneath the surface of the earth, plates slide back and forth. This is why we have earthquakes and volcanoes. It's easy to explain using an avocado.

Vegetable soup and chocolate cake

In a traditional Icelandic holiday cottage, visitors watch a film that looks more like a cooking show than a geology lesson. Through demonstrations with everyday foods like avocados, vegetable soup and chocolate cake, it explains the geological phenomena discussed in the gallery displays in an accessible, playful way. An avocado is no longer a fruit: its peel is the earth’s hard crust, its flesh the movable mantle, and its pit the hot core.

Geological history

The film ‘The Power of Plate Tectonics’ is part of the Naturalis museum’s ‘Earth’ gallery. The exhibition explains the planet’s geological history by focusing on four places where key geological processes literally happen close to the surface: Iceland, Japan, Hawaii and Brazil. The film features objects from the exhibition, linking the explanations to the displays in a concrete way.

 

“Plain and simple language — that's what we like to see! An educational subject presented in an engaging, playful way. This film is deservedly at the top of its category.”

Avond van de Opdrachtfilm, jury report — 29 October 2020

Credits

Client
Naturalis Biodiversity Center

Content Design Film
Studio Louter

Film Production
Gado Gado Filmproducties

Audio Production
KlevR sounddesign

Awards 

Avond van de Opdrachtfilm 2020
Shortlist | Creativity/Innovation and Effectiveness

US International Film and Video Festival 2020
Silver Screen | Education: Primary/Elementary School

New York Festivals TV & Film Awards 2020
Silver | Documentary: Educational/Instructional