BACK TO THE FOREST
MERLIN HANBURY-TENISON - SHORT DOCUMENTARY - CLIENT | 4814 TRUST - DECEMBER 23
[SYNOPSIS]
A micro documentary about Merlin Hanbury-Tenison's deep connection to one of the UK's remaining native temperate rainforests and his efforts to restore it. A film commissioned by The 4814 Trust.
Merlin grew up in the forest, joined the Army, served three tours in Afghanistan, and was blown up in a roadside bomb. It was in 2017, as he began to suffer from complex PTSD, that he returned to the forest and understood how much the natural world had been part of saving him. A Thousand Year Trust is dedicated to restoring the UK's native Atlantic temperate rainforests — a habitat of which only 0.4% remains.
[TRANSCRIPT]
"I grew up in the forest here and spent all my childhood running wild through the woods. I joined the Army, and did three tours in Afghanistan. I was blown up in a roadside bomb.
It was only in 2017 that everything started to come back to me. I began to suffer from quite severe complex PTSD. And it was through that process that I realised how much I needed the natural world, and how much I needed to rebuild myself by being in the forest. That was, I think, a big part of saving me.
We've cut down 99% of this habitat. There's about 0.4% left. It is one of the best habitats we have in the UK for carbon sequestration, for biodiversity, for clean water and clean air. It's not a question of if — it's just when."
[CAST + CREW]
Produced / Directed / Camera / Edited: Lucy Steel
Produced/ Directed / Sound / Editing / Animation: Cameron Doig
Subject: Merlin Hanbury-Tenison, A Thousand Year Trust
Client: The 4814 Trust
Project Type: Short Documentary
Year: 2023