Cactus Hotel
Nominee Science & Media Awards 24
Wildlife / Yann Sochaczewski / Germany / 2023 / 50 min / German
In the American Southwest, one's attention is drawn to a figure with outstretched arms that towers unmissable into the blue skies. At first glance it is seemingly lifeless. But if you look closely, the icon of the Sonoran Desert is full of life, like a luxury hotel to many desert residents. With daily “check-ins” and “check-outs”, gambles, fights, sex and death, the busy residents and part-time occupants all bring with them amazing survival skills, hunting thrills and housing ideas.
They are an unusual band of neighbors. Some fly, some crawl and some hop. And they all have one thing in common: they will cross paths at the fabulous Cactus Hotel. This film tells the exciting life story of one old cactus with its wild tourists, quirky residential communities and long-term tenants who manage to make this seemingly prickly cactus fortress their home.