Points of Light

Not long ago, countless fireflies swarmed through fields and backyards on summer nights. Today in Iowa, a place known for its uniform landscape and monocultures of corn, fireflies are increasingly rare to find: points of light that blink off just as quickly as they light up in the dark. In POINTS OF LIGHT, filmmaker Annika Juliane Schilling sets out to search for these magical-seeming insects and the reasons for their disappearance. She takes a look at farm work and front lawns, as patterns of exploitation begin to show. In essayistic form, the film goes on to explore resisting forces: a queer couple who cultivate a "hellish" garden. A red prairie flower that attracts fireflies. A sprouting hope.