Western States Premiere
Industry Screening – Feature, USA (2010) 95 min. In Russian with English subtitles
DIR Seth Blasutein   SCR Erik Nelson   CAST Erik Nelson, Wachiraboon Boonyaruttapun, Chris King, Jay Saunders
The word, ecesis, means ‘the successful establishment of a plant or animal species in a habitat.’ The relationship of ecesis to the story, and the name of the main character, is the notion that the natural instinct of people to survive automatically separates emotion and intentional decision making from the act of surviving. The main character’s name, Eisis, (Ay-sis) is a symbolic simplification of the word ecesis.  Eisis’ role in the story is the study of one side of the process of human ecesis when forced for survival.  Eisis, being a highly trained, career ‘lifer’ special forces soldier from the fictitious country of Saesland, is thrown into a situation that departs wildly from traditional military doctrine, and from the experiences he has had over the years in numerous special operations missions. The other side of the process is Carmlada, a native woman Shaman who has lived her entire life in the forests where the story is set, as a medicine woman and spiritual guide.  Carmlada follows a thousand-year-long tradition of harvesting life sustaining natural products from the local forests for her community. When finding herself in an engagement with Eisis, she also is thrust into a situation that departs wildly from her traditional role as a healer and messenger of the Gods.