Niches

Janelle VanderKelen · 2025 · 7 minutes

Not all teachers are human in a bustling Spanish farmhouse. While instances of interspecies care are enacted beneath the cool stone arches of this rambling structure, the ecological niches (or roles) of various beings shift along with their unexpected environmental relationships.

Janelle VanderKelen is an artist and filmmaker based in Knoxville, TN. Her films imagine alternative acts of relation between imperfect bodies (human, vegetal, geological, or otherwise). She uses animation and time-lapse to make the agency of plants and fungi visible for human audiences. VanderKelen’s work has been exhibited at institutions including The Museum of Moving Image in New York; Anthology Film Archives in New York; and Bow Arts in London. Her films have screened at Ann Arbor Film Festival, True/False, Athens International Film + Video Festival, Revelation Perth International Film Festival, and Antimatter [Media Art] Film Festival.