Making An Ancient Forest (Rita Schlamberger, 2015): Austria

Reviewed by Wayne Derossett.  Viewed at the 2016 Santa Barbara Film Festival in the Fiesta 1 theater, Thursday, Feb. 11 at 1:00 PM.

Full title:  Making An Ancient Forest: Kalkalpen National Park.

It was my distinct pleasure to see the U.S. premier of this amazing film.   Directed by Rita Schlamberger, it took three years to make, and it shows.  She is particularly well prepared for such complex field work with a PhD in biology, and a pilot’s license.  Her film describes the intricate ecosystem in the Austrian Alps’ Kalkalpen National Park, the largest forest in Europe, that was once an abandoned timberland dating back to the middle-ages and now restored by nature back to its ‘ancient’ state.  It is a stunning work of impeccable beauty that captures amazing hidden views of wildlife hidden deep in the forest.

The film will often make you ask, “How did they shoot that?”  We peer through the morning mist and hover across a forest floor, teaming with plants and fungi.  We catch a glimpse of a rare bird.  We see a huge emperor moth unfold its wings.  Vertical camera moves travel effortlessly up the sides of towering trees into the forest canopy.  We catch fleeting glimpses of pigmy owls, wild wolves, and steal a peek into a den full of lynx cubs.

The film explains the complex cycle of growth and decay in the forest that is driven by prolific tree growth and kept in check by fungi.  The trees actually have a complex communication system to allocate space on the densely covered forest floor.  As one tree falls, fungi move in to break it down and return the rich organic matter back to the soil.  This signals a new cycle for another tree to take root.

Expertly filmed in Ultra-HD 4K digital format, no pixel is without rich vivid detail.  If per chance you see it on broadcast television, you will still be amazed, but you’re missing out on the full ultra-HD experience.  This film really puts a high-end projector and big theater screen to best use.

Making An Ancient Forest was recently sold to the National Geographic Channel and PBS station WNET.