Encounters 2025

Mariee Siou: Circle of Signs

Samantha ShayIceland20236 min

“This song is a prayer that begs us to heed these warnings from the earth body and reflect on indigenous prophecies from different nations around the world, which speak of the time of The Great Shift. A time when we will be given two paths to walk as human beings, where we must choose whether we continue on the path of acceleration, disconnection and technology, or take the other path back into the right relationship with the earth once again.” Delving into the rich lyrical content, Siou says, “The lyrics ask if we will ever humble ourselves and learn from our mistakes as a species, whose human superiority complex is causing change and destruction to our planetary home at a pace that is beyond comprehension.” The film was directed by the visionary multi-disciplinary artist Samantha Shay and created with a talented group of collaborators and artists brought together by Samantha in Iceland. A note from the director: “Circle of Signs is a piece about the wildfires rampaging through California, but so much more. It is about climate grief, the hopeless situation capitalism and colonialism has left the planet and youth to take on, and so for this video, I decided to collaborate with a teenager on the entire creative trajectory. It was a tremendous learning experience. Seraphia Behr is 15 and stars in the film, she is a first time actor, and we created the ideas and images together. In this piece, I somehow felt how the suppression of natural burning forests equated to the suppression of the voices of the youth. Somehow, Seraphia is California embodied, struggling with and ultimately reclaiming her wildness, her beauty, her insecurities, her vision for her future, and the lineage of women she comes from. I learned a lot. It was an honor to make this piece for Mariee, and I also got to bring together many amazing female artists whose work is featured in this piece.”.

Read the original programme ↗ Letterboxd