Aunt Hilda! (ATOM study guide)

Aunt Hilda! is a French–Luxembourgish feature animation directed by Jacques-Rémy Girerd and Benoît Chieux. Environmentally friendly botanist Hilda battles the unethical DOLO Corporation, whose miraculous easy-to-grow cereal threatens the plant world and endangers mankind.

Plant-loving Hilda (Sabine Azema) has created a botanical paradise where she saves endangered and rare plants from all over the world from extinction. Her mountain-top glass house is home to her exotic blooms and her elderly parents.

Meanwhile the powerful multinational DOLO Corporation launches Attilem, a genetically modified and high-yield cereal. Capable of growing with very little water and fertilizer, Attilem is hailed as a miracle. It is an ideal solution to global hunger and can be used as an alternative energy source. But disaster looms on the horizon. Attilem lacks thorough scientific testing; nevertheless Dolorès (Josiane Balasko), the head of the DOLO Corporation, chooses to ignore the dangers. After all, Attilem will provide her with untold wealth and power.

Hilda suspects no good will come of Attilem but her angry protests put her behind bars. The creator of Attilem, Professor Michael Aldashin (Serguei Vladimirov), is all too aware of its dangers. His cautionary advice lands him in trouble and, like Hilda, he is imprisoned. By the time they are released, Attilem has done its damage. The wonder-crop is spreading at an alarming rate, attacking and eradicating other plants.

It is up to Hilda and Michael to save the Earth's ecology. Human life is in grave danger. When Dolorès and her deadly harvest arrive at Hilda's front door, Hilda realizes that the DOLO Corporation is headed by her long-lost sister and that the battle to save the environment may be far more difficult than she ever imagined.

Curriculum Links

Aunt Hilda! is suitable for primary students in Years 4–6 within the learning areas of English, Languages: French, The Arts: Media and Visual Arts, and Science. The film is relevant to the teaching of the General Capabilities of Intercultural Understanding and Ethical Understanding, and the Cross-Curriculum Priority of Sustainability.