Pim Zwier

Maria Sibylla Merian, a 17th-century artist and ecologist, expertly depicted the captivating journey of butterfly metamorphosis.

METAMORPHOSIS depicts the life and work of the German artist Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717), whose study of insects laid the foundations of entomology. Her most important work revolved around the metamorphosis of caterpillars into butterflies. Director Pim Zwier started breeding caterpillars himself to document their pupation in close-up. The film offers a fascinating insight into Merian’s adventurous life, as well as into one of nature’s most mysterious metamorphoses.