In the 1940s, scientists in St. Paul found a way to mass-produce the strongest chemical bond on earth, one that lasts “forever.” Less than fifty years later, this compound would be in the blood of every human on the planet. Today, the East Metro of St. Paul is home to the largest and oldest plumes of forever chemicals in the world, with devastating effects for the residents and environment. How do we tell the story of an environmental catastrophe of this scale? This talk grapples with this question through a discussion of a documentary feature film in production, Forever and Forever and Forever. Moving beyond familiar stories of corporate villains and their victims, this talk explores how documentary storytelling can open up space for reflection about the embodied experience of forever chemical contamination across space and time. By framing the forever chemical crisis through legacies of settler colonialism, the film experiments with the cinematic representation of the chemical and cultural bonds that made forever chemicals, while at the same time opening space for hope and healing.

Bio:

Morgan Adamson works at the intersections of non-fiction film and cultural studies. Grounded in archival research and collaboration, her practice animates hidden histories and infrastructures as a form of social engagement situated in place. Her recent award-winning documentary, Brutal Utopias (2023), explores the struggle to define social utopia through architecture and is currently streaming nationally through the Minnesota Experience program on PBS. She is the author of a book on political cinema, Enduring Images: A Future History of New Left Cinema, in addition to numerous scholarly and popular essays. She is Professor and Chair of Media and Cultural Studies at Macalester College.