When the World Has No Bugs

Filmmaker Sofia Carrillo is preparing to shoot "Insectario: despertar" (Insectarium: Awakening), a stop-motion animated film that imagines a world devoid of insects. This project comes in the wake of a 2023 environmental study indicating a severe decline in insect populations, with 40% of species, notably bees, facing significant reduction due to human-driven habitat alterations. The study suggests a potential total disappearance of insects within decades. Carrillo reflects on the silent but impactful nature of this crisis, noting its multifactorial causes and uncertain consequences. The first visual from the film was unveiled in June at Annecy, the world's foremost animation festival, by Spanish co-producer Inicia Films. The stop-motion technique involves meticulously moving puppets and photographing them to create the illusion of movement, with 24 still images generating just one second of film. Carrillo is known for her stop-motion short films, including "Cerulia" and "La casa triste," and contributed to Guillermo del Toro's "Pinocchio." "Insectario: despertar" follows Lexi, a young woman who collects specimens for her entomologist uncle, Dr. Krause. An incident involving a rare Atlas moth sparks a fantastical journey. Carrillo stated, "We are talking about the world lacking color, not seeing it from a hopeless point of view, because I don't think we are for more negative things, but I do believe it is time to imagine, still, what would happen." The film also has support from Pimienta Films, co-founded by Nicolás Celis, a producer of the Oscar-winning "Roma."

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It is something silent, but it is happening, it is something multifactorial and we don't really know how it is going to affect us, but it is going to happen.