Ida lives on a ship with her crew of five men. In Marseille her attention is caught by the secretive male world of the French Foreign Legion and she decides to follow its traces across the Mediterranean. As Ida and her crew sail via Corsica to the historical headquarters of the Legion in Algeria, boundaries and certainties blur while life at sea produces a special kind of mutual understanding.

The second feature from filmmaker Helena Wittmann, Human Flowers of Flesh is an elliptical voyage through the mediterranean that elegantly explores layers of histories and the traces our actions leave behind. Forging intriguing connections with both Claire Denis’ Beau Travail and Jean-Luc Godard’s Le Petit Soldat, Wittmann builds her own distinct layer onto cinematographic history.

The ICA is delighted to present the UK Premiere of Human Flowers of Flesh on Thu 16 November followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Helena Wittmann, hosted by ICA Film Programme Coordinator Daniel Turner.

The UK premiere will be followed by a week-long run in the ICA Cinema.