Nocturnes

In the verdant, misty Eastern Himalayas—the India–Bhutan border, a biodiversity hotspot—ecologist Mansi Mungee pairs up with Gendan “Bicki” Marphew, from the Indigenous Bugun community, for a quantitative study on the local population of hawk moths. As the team sets up screens at varying altitudes and projects light onto those screens to attract these essential members of the food chain, Nocturnes foregrounds the physical labor and particular brand of patience required for scientific research. The immersive soundscape and textures of the lush landscape are transporting, yet the urgency of the endeavor is never far out of mind.