Forest Calls 2.0
An artistic and scientific journey inviting us to listen to the living world.
Project Overview
Forest Calls 2.0 is a long-term, transmedia artistic project that brings together artists, cultural practitioners, scientists, and communities to reflect on biodiversity and the accelerating disappearance of living worlds.
Inspired by “When Silence Becomes the Song” (PBS), written and directed by DMC alum and COMM MA graduate student, Ella Marcil, the project unfolds across multiple forms – dance, music, film, immersive media, live performance, and public dialogue – each offering a different way of listening to the natural world and to the stories carried within it.
At its core, Forest Calls 2.0 explores how artistic practices can serve as bridges: between cultures, between disciplines, and between humans and the ecosystems they inhabit. The project includes Indigenous knowledge, scientific research, and contemporary artistic expression, not as parallel narratives, but as interconnected ways of understanding life.
Forest Calls 2.0 will culminate in a large-scale public presentation in October 2026 in Cincinnati, in conjunction with Blink 2026 and the Indigenous People’s Convergence. This transmedia project will include a live, multi-media performance, immersive stereoscopic 360° VR experience, public installations, and a scientific symposium, alongside the ongoing production of a full-length documentary tracing the project’s creative journey.
Project Components
Project Timeline
Pre-Prod for “Forest Calls 2.0” begins
Logistics and detailed planning of the transmedia project begins.
Hawai’i delegation arrives in Cincinnati
Cultural practitioners, scientists and artists from Hawai’i arrive in Cincinnati .
“Story of the ‘Akikiki” Live Performance
90-minute performance showcasing the artistic creative collaborations.
Scientific Symposium
Scientific presentations and collabs on the theme of biodiversity.
Media Project Outputs
The transmedia project gets shared with the general public.
Partners
Reflection.icu (Cincinnati)
Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden (Cincinnati)
Urban Native Collective (Cincinnati)
University of Cincinnati (Cincinnati)
College of Arts & Sciences
College Conservatory of Music
Lights Out Cincinnati (Cincinnati)
Ka ʻImi Naʻauao O Hawaiʻi Nei (Hawaiʻi)
Kauaʻi Forest Bird Recovery Project (Hawaiʻi)
Kauaʻi Invasive Species Committee (Hawaiʻi)
Mālama Hulē‘ia (Hawaiʻi)
Mālama Nā ʻĀpapa (Hawaiʻi)
Collaborators
Ella Marcil, UC Graduate Student / Director, Reflection.icu
Jennifer Marcil, Founder/Director, Reflection.icu
Nancy Jennings, Niehoff Professor, College of Arts & Sciences – School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies, University of Cincinnati
Laura Zanotti, Professor and Director, College of Arts & Sciences – School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Cincinnati
Hee Ra Yoo, Assistant Professor, College Conservatory of Music – Dance, University of Cincinnati
Ailsa Lipscombe, Assistant Professor, College Conservatory of Music – Ethnomusicology, University of Cincinnati
Donald Hancock, Associate Professor, College Conservatory of Music – Media Production, University of Cincinnati
Teri Jacobs, Assistant Professor-Educator, College of Arts & Sciences – School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Cincinnati
Mollie O’Neil, Director of Community Partnerships in Conservation, Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden
Briana Mazzolini-Blanchard, Executive Director, Urban Native Collective
Sabra Kauka, Kumu
Sharon Balidoy, Hula Kumu, Ka ʻImi Naʻauao O Hawaiʻi Nei
Peleke Flores, Field Operations & Cultural Resources Manager, Mālama Hulēʻia
Makana, Hawaiian Musician
Lizzy Baxter, Forest Response Technician, Kauaʻi Invasive Species Committee
Allison Cabrera, Kauaʻi Mosquito Research Coordinator, Kauaʻi Forest Bird Recovery Project
Adriana Santacruz-Castro, Marine Biologist, Mālama Nā ʻĀpapa
Lisa “Cali” Crampton, Project Manager, Kauaʻi Forest Bird Recovery Project
Louis-Gabriel Pothier, Canadian Musician
Serge Marcil, Creative Producer – Technical Director