Library collections may want to know that a book version is also available for this Canadian documentary feature by international photojournalist Rita Leistner. She sought solace from war-zone work (and, the viewer learns belatedly, her own drinking problems and torments) by working in the Canadian wilderness with a subculture of tree planters. Over several years she shot this total-immersion chronicle on glorious HD media.
Do not expect up-front background on lumber-industry economics or politics, saving-the-rainforests slogans, or a wide view of botany or horticulture (even environmentalist speechifying does not really kick in until the midway point); the viewer is dropped directly into the world of seasonal workers who staff bug-infested camps around clear-cut areas, develop horrible blisters, improvise latrines, and spend endless daylight hours methodically planting fresh saplings. Some tenderfeet manage only hundreds of plants at a time; others ten times that much. During the course of making the film, we're told, more than 40 million fresh trees were planted.
Although some planters are as old as 60, this is strenuous stuff that attracts a multicultural, multi-gendered selection of Canada's outdoors-loving youth. A fellow named Paddy gives a standup-comedy routine on his shovel knowledge. Tree planters who are romantic couples tell their stories (one broke up over the years, but the female still perseveres). Leistner herself acknowledges that age and wear are limiting her tree-planting usefulness; clearly, she has had her gear and lighting with her all along the adventure, and in the breathtaking video, drone, and still/time-exposure imagery she renders the mission-driven lifestyle with a true disciples' awe and reverence.
One might say that the film proposes, in zen-monastery fashion, the curative powers and rewards of any single-minded and repetitious task that improves the common good. But it would not be the same without Mother Nature.
Forest For The Trees is an exceptional documentary that not only sheds light on the arduous task of tree planting but also captures the human experience of those who do it. Rita Leistner's passion for the subject matter shines through in the film's careful attention to detail, from the descriptions of the planting process to the personal stories of the planters. The documentary is a testament to the power of filmmaking to tell stories that are both informative and moving. It is an absolute joy to watch and an inspiration to see what a small group of people can do to make a significant impact on the world around them. Forest For The Trees is truly a great film and should be on the must-watch list for anyone who appreciates documentaries that are informative, poignant, and beautifully made.
What public library shelves would this title be on?
Nature outdoors collections, especially with a leaning towards trees and forests, as well as any Canadiana.
What academic subjects would this film be suitable for?
Forestry and environmental science institutions should be willing to go out on a limb for Forest For the Trees.
What type of classroom would this documentary resource be suitable for?
Some swearing and frank talk about body functions would get this a likely PG-13 rating, in high school and above classrooms.
RITA LEISTNER — DIRECTOR, PRODUCER, CINEMATOGRAPHER
Rita Leistner is an award-winning Canadian photographer, writer and filmmaker. A former war photographer and tree planter, Rita is known for her ability to work in challenging conditions and for building close personal bonds with her subjects. She creates unique, bespoke conceptual and aesthetic approaches to the wide variety of socially and environmentally engaged subjects she documents—soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, women wrestlers, her ten-year portrait-landscape project The Levant Trilogy, loggers and tree planters in Canada, among others. The merging of subject and landscape is her specialty. Leistner’s work has been published in hundreds of outlets, exhibited in nine countries, and is in major public art collections including The National Gallery of Canada, The Canadian War Museum, The Royal Ontario Museum and The Image Centre. She was a finalist for a 2022 Canadian Screen Award for Best Cinematography in a Feature Documentary for her work in Forest for the Trees and is a World Press Photo Award-Winner. Her fourth book of photography, “Forest for the Trees” (the sibling to the film) is a finalist for the 2022 Banff Mountain Book Competition. She is represented by the Stephen Bulger Gallery for artworks. She lives between Montreal and Toronto.
ACCOLADES
“Riveting doc Forest for the Trees is an evocative, layered and fascinating study on perseverance and the deep connections between body and mind. Leistner captures the strength and determination of individuals up against something much bigger than themselves.” — Jen McNeely, Film Critic, She Does The City
“Knock-out gorgeous! Leistner is a magnificent story-teller.” — Jean McGothlin, Founder, Sebastopol Film Festival
“Leistner is a force of nature and as real as they come.” — Manfred Becker, Filmmaker, Program Director, Film Studies York University
“An utterly wonderful film.” — Patrick Hort, Founder Mammoth Climate Action Cinema, UK
“Just dazzling! The whole film is such a cascade of revelations. It just keeps turning into something else, and then something else again.” — Will Aitken, Film Critic and Novelist
DVD
UPC Code: 680044983974
90 minute feature + 33 minutes of bonus clips
SDH Subtitles
BONUS MATERIAL
- Film Trailer - 2 mins
- Book Trailer - 4 mins
- Demo "Portraits of Tree Planters" and "Making Art" - 4 mins
- Bear Deterrent - 1 min
- Rookies - 4 mins
- Rita Leistner Interview, with filmmaker Katherine Knight - 7 mins
- Poetry - 4 mins
- The Odds - 2 mins
- Creating the Musical Score, with Kevin Quain - 5 mins