RIDM 2024: Apple Cider Vinegar (dir. Sofia Benoot) | Review

Sofie Benoot’s Apple Cider Vinegar draws its title as one of the only antidotes to soothe the narrator’s (voiced by Sian Philipps) kidney stones. As contrived and meandering the title may seem, it’s an appropriate title for one of the more shapeshifting documentaries about the exploration of stones in relation to ecology. After premiering at the Visions du Reel, Apple Cider Vinegar is having its Canadian premiere in the International Feature Competition at the 27th Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM).

Opening with a surveillance webcam, we see a pelican walking calmly along a pond, and after a matter of seconds, the camera pans to the right, followed by zooming out, exposing a large elephant at the edge. This beginning sequence metaphorized how the film playfully explores the grandiosity of viewers curiosity with the world. 

Reminiscent of Fern Silva’s geological and astrological 2021 film essay, Rock Bottom Riser about rocks, Apple Cider Vinegar similarly builds on the connection of this earthly matter to a personal and political level. The narrator, with a cheeky tone and comic timing, is in search of answers after learning of the numerous properties that caused this kidney stone. This hunt for resolution propels us on an expansive journey of the endless properties of the earth’s matter and inhabitants.

First, we meet a “mineral” detective from the UK who’s solved cases due to her research. Through inspecting the kidney stone, it shows that there’s a Weddellite in the kidney stone, a mineral found in Antarctica. Instead of going down the rabbit hole, Benoot explores other instances of how stone relates to its surroundings. Next, we see how stones in relation to land, as we are transported to Cape Verde and Southern California, where erupting volcanoes and earthquake fault lines dictate the way of living for its inhabitants. And for the last location, Palestine, stones are used as a form of oppression and displacement. 

Cinema’s invitation to the world of semiotics is a never-ending investigation. If language’s words and symbols evolved throughout time, so has cinema’s language to interpret images. Benoot’s progression on the relationship of stones to its recipients guides us into symbolic thinking. In some ways, the film holds your hand throughout the world, but it is through Benoot’s joyful approach that blends its captivating subjects to this earthly material. This type of analysis brings an intelligent approach on perspective and interpretation on a global scale, allowing our conscious to be aware of the endless possibilities on how we see the world. It’s one of the gifts cinema, paintings, or any visual medium can offer, initiating our subconsciousness with the world.

The 27th RIDM is taking over Montreal, Canada, from November 20th to December 1st.