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

Artistic Collaborations

Dance, music, and film collaborations bring together Indigenous cultural practices and contemporary artistic forms to create works that reflect biodiversity, memory, and place.

Immersive & Media Works

Stereoscopic 360° VR experiences, video installations, and documentary filmmaking offer audiences multiple ways to experience and engage with living ecosystems beyond traditional formats.

Live Performance & Public Presentation

A large-scale, multi-media live event integrates performance, projection, and immersive technologies, creating a shared space for reflection, listening, and collective experience.

Scientific & Cultural Dialogue

Talk Story conversations and a scientific symposium connect artists, cultural practitioners, and researchers, fostering dialogue between knowledge systems and grounding the project in ecological reality.

Project Timeline

January 28, 2025

Pre-Prod for “Forest Calls 2.0” begins

Logistics and detailed planning of the transmedia project begins.

January 28, 2025
October 6, 2026

Hawai’i delegation arrives in Cincinnati

Cultural practitioners, scientists and artists from Hawai’i arrive in Cincinnati .

October 6, 2026
October 11, 2026

“Story of the ‘Akikiki” Live Performance

90-minute performance showcasing the artistic creative collaborations.

October 11, 2026
October 13, 2026

Scientific Symposium

Scientific presentations and collabs on the theme of biodiversity.

October 13, 2026
June 1, 2027

Media Project Outputs

The transmedia project gets shared with the general public.

June 1, 2027

Partners

Reflection.icu (Cincinnati)

University of Cincinnati (Cincinnati)

College of Arts & Sciences

College Conservatory of Music

Urban Native Collective (Cincinnati)

Lights Out Cincinnati (Cincinnati)

Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden (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

Writer – Director / 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

Laura Dell

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Education, Criminal Justice, Human Services & Information Technology (CECH)

Sarah Schroeder

Professor, Field Service, College of Education, Criminal Justice, Human Services & Information Technology (CECH) – School of Education

Mollie O’Neil

Director of Community Partnerships in Conservation, Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden

Briana Mazzolini-Blanchard

xecutive 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

Recent Posts

“The Story of the ‘Akikiki”

  
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