The Hidden Life of Trees
Everyone enjoys a walk through the woods, but for most people, trees are primarily suppliers of wood, things that can be cut down and sawn without further ado. In 2015, the book Das geheime Leben der Bäume (The Hidden Life of Trees) was published, in which author Peter Wohlleben, who has been a forester for many years, presents a completely different view. Trees are social beings that can communicate with their fellow trees through their extensive root system, support weakened “family members” with extra nutrients, and also enter into complex partnerships with mushrooms. Forest management should be based much more on this understanding, he firmly believes. Some found the book groundbreaking, others unscientific, but it became a huge bestseller.
Using beautiful images of nature, with extensive use of time-lapse photography, filmmakers Jörg Adolph and Jan Haft have translated these insights into images. They show how trees grow and how trees and fungi collaborate. The guide and narrator in this documentary is, of course, Wohlleben.
