Stones are one of the most fundamental but overlooked parts of our world. When a fictitious nature documentary narrator begins to investigate her kidney stone, she decides to tell one more story about this forgotten world of stone. Apple Cider Vinegar is a hypnotic essay film asking urgent ecological questions that takes the viewer on a journey meeting Palestinian stone masons, passionate British geologists and people living on the lava fields of Fogo.
“Sofie Benoot's wide-ranging documentary essay is a warmly engaging, sometimes whimsical affair tracing the connections between life and nature, the everyday and the profound.”
Allan Hunter
“One day the YouTube algorithm recommended a video of the largest kidney stone in the world. The kidney stone was beautiful, disgusting and surprising. The world of stone and the human world, which seem so far apart come together in the human body. That is a dizzying thought and a slightly nightmarish one. It reminded me of my dreams back when I was a teenager.”
Sofie Benoot
“Stone lies at the foundation of our world but finding a narrative in which it figures as something more than a supporting role is difficult. I thought portraying our relation with stone could be a way to address certain ecological questions. Stone symbolizes a certain tradition of relating to nature that I inherited as well, living in the European West. It offers a metaphor of how we look at nature as something outside of us, far away strange and ‘other’, and as something for us to extract, nature as a resource. But kidney stones tell us that we are composed of the minerals and matters of this planet.”
Sofie Benoot
“Stone takes centre stage in Sofie Benoot’s playful, philosophical film essay on the interconnectedness of us, nature and the cosmos during the Anthropocene, voiced by Siân Phillips.”
Vladan Petkovic
“Even though the approach seems meandering, jumping between apparently randomly chosen parts of the world and a myriad of sub-topics, the film tells a story that is easy to follow thanks to its visual and semantic associations that are edited by Benoot and Liyo Gong to work like a funnel, with all of the disparate rivulets flowing into the same river, the banks of which are not strictly defined, but the direction of which is unmistakable.”
Vladan Petkovic
“A pleasant journey that is marked by eye-catching wildlife footage, impressive locations, and Benoot’s curious spirit and open heart.”
Allan Hunter
