Our documentary project "The Journey of Learning Laz Language from Plants" was entitled to receive post-production support from the European Union within the scope of CultureCIVIC: Culture and Arts Support Programme.

For 6 months in 2019, with the support of the Firebird Anthropology Foundation (we remember its founders George N. Appell and Laura WR Appell fondly), and the encouragement of Luisa Maffi, one of the founders of Terralingua, we worked on the villages of Batumi and 4 districts of Artvin (Borçka, Kemalpaşa, We carried out a research on "The Ethnobotanical (plant knowledge of the people) Heritage of the Laz" villages (Hopa and Arhavi). During our meetings with 30 people over the age of 60, we were both learning Laz and getting to know the plants, flowers, trees and fruits that Laz people love and know best.

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Now this research has the chance to bear another fruit. We are excited to prepare a short ethnographic documentary from the video recordings of approximately 40 hours of interviews we held in 2019.

We hope that this documentary will provide young people who want to learn their native language with a start towards understanding and speaking their language through plants. We think that noticing and understanding the knowledge and experiences of the Laz people regarding their "cultural keystone plant species" is a very effective, fluent and permanent way to understand the Laz language and culture.

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We also hope that with this documentary, plants will build a bridge of communication between the elderly and the young. In this way, we want to support younger generations to recognize, revitalize and maintain the multiple relationship with the plants used by the Laz and their associated languages and cultures. We hope that the documentary screenings and interviews we will hold in the districts of Artvin will encourage many people who want to learn and understand the almost forgotten Laz language, the traditional lifestyle of the Laz culture, their relationship with nature, and the world of emotions and thoughts of the Laz. We want to help recognize and revive other endangered languages and cultures, such as Laz, and to contribute to the protection and continuity of biocultural diversity in the world.