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[HUM OF MACHINERY]
A headless chicken monster (scientific name: Enypniastes eximia) is seen floating in dark water in an underwater camera recording.
DR. LUPITA BRIBIESCA-CONTRERAS (in voiceover): That’s amazing.
[ADDITIONAL OVERLAPPING VOICES ARE HEARD CHATTING]
Dr. Lupita Bribiesca-Contreras, a deep-sea biologist wearing a Natural History Museum London t-shirt sits at a desk in front of a monitor beside Lucas King and another scientist. Another person stands behind them, holding up a smartphone horizontally. There are more people milling around in the background.
BRIBIESCA-CONTRERAS: Enypniastes eximia.
LUCAS KING: What’s the common thing that...
BRIBIESCA-CONTRERAS: Uh, headless chicken. It’s a sea cucumber.
Bribiesca-Contreras claps excitedly and smiles, looking around at her colleagues and then toward the camera.
[TWINKLING HARP MUSIC BEGINS]
The headless chicken monster, a pink and glowing see-through sea cucumber with a skirt-like top that flaps up and down as it swims. Text beside the sea creature reads “Enypniastes eximia, Headless Chicken Monster, Echinodermata.”
BRIBIESCA-CONTRERAS: I love sea cucumbers. They get upset, they can expel their whole gut and they still survive. They can regenerate the gut.
Bribiesca-Contreras, Lucas King and two more colleagues sit at a desk looking at a monitor, speaking with one another and pointing at the image. The glow of the screen reflects on their faces.
The headless chicken monster floats in the dark water, its insides glowing a brighter pink and orange.
ELEANOR MORTIMER (in voiceover): The headless chicken monster. The pink see-through fantasia. The Spanish dancer. Official Latin name: Enypniastes eximia, or remarkable dreamer.
The headless chicken monster begins to fade into the dark water.
MORTIMER: The dreamer was given a name in 1882 after the Challenger expedition discovered it in their nets.
The headless chicken monster fades from view, leaving only dark water.
[MUSIC FADES]
MORTIMER: Only when an animal has a name can its existence be accounted for.
[HUM OF MACHINERY THEN A COMPUTER CLICKING]
A deep sea creature that looks like a pale, upturned strawberry sits on the ocean floor, illumated by a camera. The image blurs for a moment as if someone is zooming in. Text “Species unknown, Prickly Pear, Echinodermata” appears on screen beside it.
Fade to black.
Sunday, May 4
2 pm | LeFrak Theater
New York Premiere
Director in Attendance: Eleanor Mortimer
2025 | 101 min | United Kingdom
The ocean depths are more alien to us than Mars. Teeming with iridescent life and studded with precious minerals, the ocean floor attracts biologists and mining companies alike. As 50 scientists descend 2.9 miles (4,700 m) to study this fragile underworld, they uncover Earth’s most primordial forms—and issue a call to defend our planet’s most remote corners from exploitation.
The screening will be followed by a talkback with the director Eleanor Mortimer, moderated by RadioLab senior correspondent Molly Webster.
Check out the full Margaret Mead Film Festival schedule.