This is a bizarre story of migration. Centuries-old trees travel by land and sea to be replanted in a private garden. The client is a rich Georgian. The elaborate transportation of the trees requires other trees to be felled, electric cables to be laid down and new roads to be built. It leaves behind confused communities who have lived in the shade of these trees for generations. The price for their trees – large amounts of compensation and a promise of improved infrastructure – divides many villages.
In majestically poetic images, the Georgian director Salomé Jashi shows how the subjugation of nature tears an existential hole in our lives. Her film is an ode to the rivalry between people and nature, between homeland and deracination. At the same time, it is a powerful parable about the fragile construct of democracy.
Schweiz, Germany & Georgia 2021 | REGIE Salomé Jashi
