Catherine Prowse and Hannah Quinn’s powerful film is about a woman who finds solace during a war by growing lemons in her garden. A set crafted out of paper depicts a war-torn, wounded cityscape. From the ruins walks the main character, turning to her secret garden in a small greenhouse in an alleyway in her house. In this private space, she grows lemon trees, and shares them with the other citizens even as bombs rain down on the buildings around them. As the war rages, it is finally time to flee for good: the greenhouse is destroyed. As she walks away from the wreckage to board a van bound for safety, she comes across one surviving lemon. She passes it to a young girl to smell as a reminder of the possibility of peace, and the van pulls away. Young people aged 12-15 years will enjoy discussing the role of gardens and nature in environments of war and destitution. This is also a good way to consider the idea of the garden as a potent source of inspiration in literature.
