-Fifteen years after abandoning his botany studies, Guillermo Quintero visits his old professor, Julio Betancur.
Together with him and his new student, the young Cristian Castro, he returns to the Colombian tropical forests to rediscover his old passion for this science.
By following their work on this expedition, we understand the importance of legacy and the strength of the ancient bond between master and student.
As we delve into questions about science and the ways we see the world, Guillermo builds a reflection on modern man's obsession with controlling and mapping Nature.
In the diverse and nearly infinite world of the tropics, what's the point of endlessly collecting plants?
Botanist Julio Betancur and his disciple, the young Cristian Castro, return to the tropical forests of Colombia to once again explore their passion for nature.
Through the lens of director Guillermo Quintero, a former student of Julio, we will travel on a delirious expedition that will lead us to understand the strength of their friendship and the importance of their legacy.
In the varied and almost infinite world of the tropics we will lose ourselves together with them in the time of the jungle.
Homo botanicus, what's the point of endlessly collecting plants?
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DIRECTOR'S NOTE
Homo botanicus was born from my reflections on the contemporary profession of botanist, these collectors of nature who, thanks to their romantic obsessions, evoke the explorers of past centuries.
I was one of them too when I was halfway to becoming a biologist.
I thought I'd follow in my teacher's footsteps and become passionate about plants. But at a certain point, I questioned science and its rigor and decided to seek other horizons.
Fifteen years later, I decided to return with my camera, determined to make a film about that old passion.
And little by little, I ended up building a film around the relationship between my old professor, Julio Betancur, and his new student, Cristian, from a more reflective and detached perspective: mine.
I now realize that this portrait of these two men could well have come from some engraving by 19th century German naturalists.
Who would have imagined that such a love for classifying and collecting plants could still exist today?
This story also leads us to understand the beauty of our natural resources, the grandeur of the tropics, the vastness of its forms, and the history of the natural world.
