Pioneer Species
I am Jack Farman, a filmmaker and environmental anthropologist with a background in philosophy (McGill University) and social anthropology (University College London). My work bridges ethnographic methods and audio-visual storytelling to investigate how territories are shaped by ecological, social, and political transformations. I am particularly interested in practices of care, cohabitation, and regeneration, and how they inform new ways of inhabiting and imagining our environments.
My approach draws on documentary filmmaking, sensory ethnography, and spatial storytelling. I develop long-term research-led film projects that function both as artistic narratives and forms of situated inquiry. My first short film, Espèces Pionnières, explores the metaphor of pioneer species — plants that initiate ecological succession — as a lens to understand urban cohabitation and the reactivation of ecological memory in damaged or neglected territories. It features the work of artists Thierry Boutonnier and Fabrice Hyber, as well as citizen initiatives in Paris.
I am currently working on a second film focused on compost, food systems, and soil regeneration, which I have begun filming at the urban farm Zone Sensible in Saint-Denis. I also co-develop collective projects within Recitorii, a research-action platform exploring how territories are narrated and activated through interdisciplinary collaboration.
Through my practice, I aim to reconfigure the relationship between humans and more-than-human environments, by creating films that are both poetic and politically grounded.
Pioneer Species is an ongoing artistic research and film project that investigates how ecological transformation and memory intersect in urban contexts. Rooted in my background in environmental anthropology and visual storytelling, the project began with the observation that pioneer species—plants that are first to grow in disturbed soils—serve as powerful metaphors for social, ecological, and urban regeneration. These species not only stabilize ecosystems but also create conditions for new life to emerge. In the same way, certain human practices—such as composting, collective gardening, and community-led urban interventions—can be understood as “pioneer” gestures that regenerate forgotten or damaged territories.
The first film in the series explored arboriculture and urban conviviality in Paris through the work of artists Thierry Boutonnier and Fabrice Hyber. Currently, I am developing a second chapter focusing on soils, food, and toxicity. This new work investigates how food systems, waste cycles, and urban farming create new relational ecologies, particularly through projects like Zone Sensible, a farm in Saint-Denis.
The next phase of the research will look at the memory of the land: how traces of ancient ecologies—such as native species, lost rivers, or historic paths—might be reactivated in contemporary design processes. I aim to film processes of restoration and particularly how people inhabit, imagine, and care for degraded or fragmented ecosystems.
Pioneer Species is both a critical inquiry and a hopeful proposal: that we can reimagine urban futures not by projecting distant utopias, but by paying attention to fragile, emergent forms of life already present beneath our feet.