13. Erica Monde, Mila Benjamins

There’s Not Much We Can Do

Film by Erica Monde

12 Apr 2024
5 May 2024

When filmmaker Erica Monde was diagnosed with endometriosis, the growth of tissue similar to the uterine lining outside the uterus, she was told by doctors that there was not much they could do for her. In her film, she speaks about this experience, but also about how she learned that Japanese Knotweed is a remedy for the condition. This invasive plant is attacked with much greater urgency than many medical problems in female bodies. In her film, she takes you through her thoughts on body, biology, care, and control, and openly questions what we see as 'natural'.

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There's Not Much We Can Do - install -

Medical misogyny

Why did Erica Monde have to wait so long to be diagnosed with endometriosis? Why do we still see menstrual pain as 'normal' and 'natural'? Endometriosis symptoms are ignored, compounded by issues of disinformation, lack of care, and medical misogyny. And when diagnosed, the disease is difficult to treat and often involves overly aggressive procedures. Perhaps we should put our time and money into developing methods that don't harm our environment and bodies so much?

There's Not Much We Can Do asks us to reconsider what is important in our society: should we be striving for perfection through aggressive, controlling methods? It also questions the ideology of the ideal, "healthy" (or perhaps controlled) person or environment, and instead empathically aligns itself with that which grows subversively.

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There Is Not Much We Can Do - by Erica Monde, Film Still - Still of burning field: Japanese knotweed on the property Director: Erica Monde Editor: Erica Monde Producer: Clara Harris Written by: Erica Monde and Theo Panagopoulos Director of Photography: Marta Massa Sound Designer and Recordist: Alexis Psillas Executive Producers: Noe Mendelle and Flore Cosquer Commissioned by Screen Scotland and the Scottish Documentary Institute for Bridging the Gap Erica Monde

Fallopia Japonica

Erica's documentary does not condemn Japanese knotweed or endometriosis, but rather the way in which people deal with it. Activity or passivity, both result in violence. Instead of exterminating Japanese knotweed, we can, for example, use it for its healing properties. The plant contains the anti-inflammatory substance 'resveratol', which reduces endometriosis symptoms.

By showing the shared experiences of women and people with uterus and Japanese knotweed, There's Not Much We Can Do reminds us of our responsibility as a society to take care of each other.

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There Is Not Much We Can Do - by Erica Monde, Film Still - Still of hand Director: Erica Monde Editor: Erica Monde Producer: Clara Harris Written by: Erica Monde and Theo Panagopoulos Director of Photography: Marta Massa Sound Designer and Recordist: Alexis Psillas Executive Producers: Noe Mendelle and Flore Cosquer Commissioned by Screen Scotland and the Scottish Documentary Institute for Bridging the Gap Erica Monde

About the Artist:

Erica Monde is a filmmaker, anthropologist and artist from Northern California currently based in Scotland. Her work focuses on the relationships between the body and the environment, queer ecologies, medicine, ritual and healing, and studying practices and experiences of her own and other bodies.

She holds a Master of Fine arts in documentary directing from the University of Edinburgh and an MA in medical anthropology from the University of Heidelberg, and draws on over a decade of experience in somatic practices such as dance, focusing, and movement studies. She is co-founder of IMPRINT Documentary Collective, an international, feminist film collective working on embodiment and the body in filmmaking.

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Erica Monde - profile picture

Director: Erica Monde
Editor: Erica Monde
Producer: Clara Harris
Written by: Erica Monde and Theo Panagopoulos
Director of Photography: Marta Massa
Sound Designer and Recordist: Alexis Psillas
Executive Producers: Noe Mendelle and Flore Cosquer
Commissioned by Screen Scotland and the Scottish Documentary Institute for Bridging the Gap