Once Upon a Time in a Forest

The Wild Forest

October 2021 •German

“Let nature be nature” is the philosophy of the Bavarian Forest National Park. Despite massive resistance, this vision has become a groundbreaking showcase project. Because humans do not interfere with nature, the former commercial forests grow into a primeval forest, a unique ecosystem and a refuge for biodiversity. People from all over the world come here. They are looking for answers to the question of why we need more wild nature and what we can learn from it to preserve forests for future generations in times of climate change.

Fairy Creek

February 2025 •English

In Fairy Creek, director Jen Muranetz documents the largest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history, creating a searing portrait of contemporary environmental activism, bearing witness to the lengths activists are willing to take to protect British Columbia’s last old growth forests.

Zelená stráž

January 1952 •Czech

Traktory jedou do lesa

December 1950 •Czech

Documentary film about the use of tractors in Czechoslovak forestry. It shows a forest tractor felling trees, loading logs, hauling and grubbing.

Kůrovec

January 1951 •Czech

Škůdci listnatých lesů

January 1954 •Czech

Christian Kjærs sidste vilje

March 2024 •Danish

"Wer hat dich, du schöner Wald…" oder Wie ein Film verhindert wurde

June 1990 •German

The film reports on the massive forest damage in the Ore Mountains on the Czech-German border and the desperate struggle of foresters and residents to save this landscape. Hope, doubt and an ever-increasing ecological catastrophe are pitted against a blind and deaf doctrinaire state power that denies the facts.

Groenkijkers

December 2023 •Dutch

Butterfly

March 2001 •English

Living in an ancient redwood tree for more than two years to prevent the tree from being clear-cut, Julia Butterfly Hill captured our hearts and minds by showing us that one person can make a difference. Through interviews with Hill, filmmaker Doug Wolens paints a portrait of an intensely spiritual and articulate woman who encountered both beauty and horror (she was assaulted by lumber company helicopters at one point) during her time above ground.

A Thousand Pines

September 2023 •English

In this tale of labor and family that shines a light on the precarity of temporary work visas, Raymundo Morales leads a crew of workers who have to make the challenging decision to leave their families in rural Mexico to plant commercial pine forests in the United States.

Silvicola

April 2023 •English

The human impact on forests is explored through breathtaking vistas and poignant vignettes set in Canada's Pacific Northwest. Those who rely on this precious resource highlight the tensions and dilemmas between commodification and conservation.

Peaks to Prairie: A Holistic Regenerative Approach

February 2025 •English

How can we harness the power of mushrooms to fight climate change? In the American West, wildfires spread fast. To slow the flames, forest managers are thinning the forests. Cutting down trees. 
But where does all that wood go? Nearby on the agricultural prairie, soils sit degraded from generations of traditional farming. The soil lacks the organic matter they need to thrive. Could these two challenges provide solutions to each other—
with a little help from Mother Nature? Peaks to Prairie is a short film about nature-based climate solutions and how mushrooms can play a key role.

Forest for the Trees

November 2021 •English

Award-winning war photographer Rita Leistner goes back to her roots as a tree planter in the wilderness of British Columbia, offering an inside take on the grueling, sometimes fun and always life-changing experience of restoring Canada’s forests. Leistner, who has photographed some of the world’s most dangerous places, credits the challenge of tree-planting for her physical and mental endurance. In Forest for the Trees, her first feature film, she revisits her past to share the lessons she learned. The film introduces us to everyday life on the “cut-block” and the brave souls who fight through rough terrains and work endless hours to bring our forests to life. The rugged BC landscape comes to life magically in Leistner’s photography, while the quirky characters and nuggets of wisdom shared around the campfire tell a sincere story of community.

Škůdci jehličnatých lesů

January 1954 •Czech

Jätkän tie

December 1996 •Finnish

Retired lumber jacks talk about their careers in forest industry of Lapland.

Povo da Floresta

January 2024 •Portuguese

Stamp of Character

January 1995 •English

Discover the "character" of one of Missouri's oldest tie and lumber operations through this archival black-and-white film that documents one of the last railroad tie drives on the Black River made by the T.J. Moss Tie Company of St. Louis in the 1920s. Thanks to release of the film by the Kerr-McGee Chemical Corporation, the rare footage in "Stamp of Character" takes us through the entire process of making railroad ties, at a time when forests covered almost two-thirds of the state. The original silent motion picture was shown in movie theaters as an advertisement by the T.J. Moss Tie Company. Using digitally edited narration and realistic sound effects, this video makes the past live again.

Plas Gwynant

September 1959 •English

Follow a group of boys as they learn forestry, map reading, camping, canoeing and rock climbing.

Kingdom of the Saguenay

January 1957 •French

Saguenay and Lac-Saint-Jean: history, economy, tourist attractions, agriculture, wood and paper industry, and especially the gigantic aluminum industry whose products are found in all parts of the world; images of a blueberry field, the Lac Bouchette sanctuary, a religious gathering, a dam, a power plant, the Arvida plant, angling, Cap Éternité, construction canoes, etc.