The Forest
online film series
Stepping from the scorching sun into the delicious shade of a tree canopy is a universal pleasure. But few landscapes are as loaded with meaning as the German forest: the setting for national myths and fairy tales, a motif in "Sturm und Drang" and romanticism. Intertwined with the concept of "Heimat" (home) and the country’s Nazi past, the German forest is an ambivalent place, offering beauty and refuge while hiding its traps.
The German Film Office’s online series Der Wald presents seven recent films that evoke different aspects of the forest. In some, the forest creates a barrier, a comfort zone that separates its residents from the upheavals of modernity (Wood and Water), societal norms (The Trouble with Being Born), or personal grief (Alaska). But in times of climate change, the forest looms as both a friend and an enemy to city dwellers (Afire). Other films lean into the childish joy of discovering the forest’s secrets (Lene and the Forest Spirits) or the horror of stepping into Germany’s violent past (Sleep, The Silent Forest).Lonely Oaks interrogates the disconnect between the forest as both a sanctuary and a natural resource that can be exploited for profit.
Free streaming; presented by the German Film Office in cooperation with the Goethe-Instituts in North America.
Free streaming; presented by the German Film Office in cooperation with the Goethe-Instituts in North America.