Overburden & The Rift Q&A

In the mist-shrouded Nimba Mountains on the Liberia–Guinea border, rare wildlife and local communities reclaim a landscape scarred by mining. Today, this fragile recovery faces a new threat: a global steel company using conservation promises to brand a new mining venture as green.
With exclusive, on-the-ground access, Overburden follows rangers, scientists, and forest defenders—like Moses Darpey, a hunter turned ranger—as they navigate the tangled frontier where mining meets conservation, and where memory, science, and power collide. The film captures intimate encounters with the mountain’s extraordinary inhabitants, from a viviparous toad found nowhere else on earth to resilient cave-dwelling bats and adaptive chimpanzees.
Overburden tells a powerful story of resilience and transformation in a landscape shaped by industry yet alive with possibility. Through vivid cinematography and deeply rooted storytelling, the film follows communities and nature enduring and adapting in the face of relentless global forces. Overburden celebrates the power of mutual aid, showing how people and ecosystems persist, rebuild, and thrive against overwhelming odds.

"Dance film set amidst the rich and varied landscapes of Zimbabwe, where performers express the tension, resilience and interconnectedness between people and the natural world under the pressures of climate change. With their movements, the dancers explore the consequences of environmental disruption and the profound ways in which people and nature are intertwined.
Through abstract choreography, symbolic imagery and an atmospheric score, the work reflects the planet’s vulnerability, the challenges posed by environmental shifts and the transformative potential of collective effort. As the dancers navigate these ever-changing locations, their movements evoke the escalating consequences of a warming world, capturing both its fragility and the urgent call for action.
The Rift is a compelling invitation to reflect, engage and take action, inspiring audiences to recognise the urgency of climate change and the shared responsibility we hold toward the planet and each other."