18/03/2024 - Lidia Duda’s documentary gets to grips with a shaky reality teetering between the joy of living amidst nature and the nightmares of a looming disaster in the big, wide world

Overwhelmed by the intensity, frenetic speed and apocalyptic soundscape of modern urban life, more and more people are seeking a peaceful existence close to nature. Lidia Duda’s Forest [+see also:
trailer
interview: Lidia Duda
film profile] intimately follows one of these adventurous families with three kids, who took the requisite steps to get back to nature some time ago. However, their idyllic aspirations clash with the harsh realities of the contemporary political madness that is disrupting their pursuit of peace among the animals and beneath the stars. Their dreams are intertwined with the plight of refugees who clandestinely cross the Polish-Belarusian border, encroaching upon their modest private paradise. The survival of these “invaders” is dependent on the mercy of local residents who dare to break the law and offer them food, water and whatever assistance they can provide. Eventually, Forest portrays the psychological toll of an absurd dilemma imposed upon its characters – the realisation that simultaneously being a conscientious citizen and a compassionate human may prove incompatible. The film celebrated its world premiere as one of the strongest contenders in the International Competition of the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival, where it has just scooped the Silver Alexander Award (see the news).

The family’s days are spent feeding chickens and counting the newly hatched ducklings in the yard, collecting honey from their hives, playing among vast amounts of white laundry, or surreptitiously observing wild animals in the woods beyond their fence. It is an idyllic setting, captured with masterful finesse by DoP Zuzanna Zachara-Hassairi, whose lens reflects both the calm and the menace of their proximity to the wilds of nature with subtlety and sensitivity. The nighttime realm turns out to be an experience at the opposite extreme, and this is where the art of editing, as well as some skilful work with sound and light, comes in. Daytime playfulness alternates with nightly hikes through dark and frightening terrain, the latter presented with thriller-like suspense. At first, one tends to assume that the overall feeling of disquiet might be caused by the silent but tangible presence of “the other”. Nevertheless, it becomes clear from the mother's conversations with her husband and her sporadic sobbing that she carries the burden of deep shame and a sense of helplessness as she realises that, in these lands, the degree of mercy shown to people in trouble depends on the colour of their skin.

As in her previous documentary feature Fledglings [+see also:
trailer
interview: Lidia Duda
film profile], Duda works closely with children who seem not to be bothered by the camera’s presence at all and who freely unfurl the full range of their vitality, in contrast to the anxious outbursts of their mother, in whose eyes one can foresee the image of a horrendous future. And just as Fledglings is far from being just another film about children with disabilities, Forest is not simply one more refugee film. By almost inhabiting the world of her characters, Duda adeptly places the viewer in the shoes of both the locals and the newcomers, providing food for thought not so much on political as on purely humanistic concerns.

Forest was produced by Lumisenta Film Foundation (Poland) in co-production with Lonely Production (Czech Republic), Canal+ Polska, EC1 Łódź - City of Culture (Poland) and Studio Filmowe Rabarbar (Poland). Rise and Shine World Sales is in charge of its international sales.