Wandering through the awe-inspiring forest reminds us of the true magic of nature. The forest is home to around 80% of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity and 60,000 tree species. But the wondrous flora and fauna of the forest are at risk. A tragic figure from the United Nations indicates that we are losing 10 million hectares of forest – the size of Iceland – every single year.
The United Nations General Assembly declared the March 21st International Day of Forests with the goal of encouraging countries to consider the impact of environmental damage, to engage in sustainable management of forests, and organize efforts on a local, national and international scale to combat humanåity’s unsustainable habits.
Video Librarian has put together a collection development guide for your International Day of Forests library programming. These films will support your library or institution's discussion on sustainability practices, as well as showcase the true atmospheric power of the cinematic forest. Let it terrify, delight, haunt, inspire awe and enrich your film collection.
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
This horror cult classic purportedly shows found-footage from three student filmmakers who have gone missing, the story follows the trio as they hike into the Black Hills near Burkittsville, Maryland to shoot a documentary about the legend of the Blair Witch.
Foregoing special effects and creepy monsters, this film plays on the instinctive fears hard-wired into our system.
The dark gradually becomes menacing, the slightest sounds – a twig snapping, a dog barking in the distance, wind rustling the leaves – become the terrifying soundtrack. The forest is presented as a desolate place of foreboding, a place that becomes increasingly unwelcoming and eventually engulfs the students in its haunting grip.
(For similarly evocative forest horrors, see The Ritual, The Village, Cabin in the Woods, The Forest, The Witch, Backcountry)
Get your copy of The Blair Witch Project Blu-ray DVD by clicking here.
Avatar (2009)
James Cameron’s sci-fi fantasy epic embodies a different twist on environmental concerns. The visual spectacle thinly veils commentary on colonization and resultant damage not only to cultural identity but also to native lands.
The juxtaposition of the human-led environment, bearing heavy machinery, industrial complexes, and military organization, and the beautiful, unique rainforest inhabited by the Na’vi makes a powerful statement about the preservation of this untouched land.
We see the forest through the eyes of Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) – it is magical, interconnected, harmonious, and a living, breathing entity. This film may be fictionally set in 2154, but it raises poignant questions about humanity's relationship to our own forests today.
Read our review of Avatar
Get your copy of the Avatar Blu-ray DVD by clicking here.
A Single Shot (2013)
Capturing the spirit of the relatively novel sub-genre of rural noir, A Single Shot follows protagonist John (Sam Rockwell) through his poverty-stricken and emotionally fraught existence in West Virginia. In true noir fashion, there’s a murder, a big unexplained bag of cash, a morally ambiguous protagonist, and some juicy poetic justice.
The titular “single-shot” instigates the narrative – and John’s downfall. The forest is depicted as a wholly isolating place, indicative not only of physical seclusion but of social exclusion too. The forest is all at once a labyrinth breeding anonymity and yet claustrophobic and suffocating.
Read our review of A Single Shot
Get your copy of the A Single Shot Blu-ray DVD by clicking here.
Princess Mononoke (1997)
This 1997 Studio Ghibli classic revolves around Ashitaka, a young Emishi prince, who is involved in the conflict between the forest gods and the humans who consume its resources. Led by Lady Eboshi, the humans’ greed for the iron resources signals downfall for the forest and its creatures. Eboshi’s short-sighted intentions ‘embodies environmentalist evil’ (Smith and Parsons) in a film that communicates the inherent power imbalance between humans and the environment.
In a world of gods and demons, beasts and humans, the forest is consistently depicted on an ethereal level. Without the spirits the forest is nothing. Yet this film avoids simplifying good versus evil, instead opting to display the complexities of human nature and how good and evil, war, and peace reside in all of us.
Read our review of Princess Mononoke
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Captain Fantastic (2016)
Ever wanted to escape the rat race and live in the forest? This is exactly what Ben Cash (Viggo Mortensen) and his wife did with their six children in Captain Fantastic. As former left-wing anarchists disillusioned by capitalism, the couple chose to raise their kids in ten acres of mountainous wilderness in Washington.
The forest is the playground, the classroom, the gym, the sustenance, the shelter, the safe haven – and altogether detached from modern society. But this means they struggle to navigate the tension between themselves and the outside world. Nature has no social order so tough decisions are called upon to strike a balance between wilderness and society for the sake of the children.
Read our review of Captain Fantastic
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Leave No Trace (2018)
Director of Winters Bone (definitely one to check out in the rural noir category), Debra Granik’s next literary adaptation follows veteran Will (Ben Foster) who, with no fixed abode, illegally lives in the forest with his daughter Tom (Thomasin McKenzie).
After being apprehended by the authorities, the two struggle to adapt to community life. “We can still think our own thoughts” is a consistent mantra they espouse to reassure each other.
For them the forest means freedom – or for Will, escape – that is thwarted by “well-meaning but incompetent human bureaucracy” (Roger Ebert). The forest allows Will to run from his trauma but Tom slowly realizes that she needs something more.
Read our review of Leave No Trace
Get your copy of the Leave No Trace Blu-ray DVD by clicking here.
The Revenant (2015)
Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s 2015 revisionist western survival epic packs a punch when it comes to the evocative portrayal of the forest. Set in 1823 in the present-day Dakotas, the story follows Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Captain Andrew Henry’s trappers on a fur trading expedition.
The operation quickly goes south and Hugh finds himself in a desperate fight for survival. His sheer force of will, fuelled by vengeance, propels him from the brink of death into a horrendously visceral journey.
Presenting the most brutal mauling scene in cinematic history, The Revenant is an incredibly immersive experience (the beautiful cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki plays a huge role in this), charting the age-old parable of man versus nature. Who will win?
Read our review of The Revenant
Get your copy of The Revenant 4K Blu-ray by clicking here.