ONCE UPON A TIME… OUR FORESTS

Once Upon a Time in Our Forests takes us on a remarkable human adventure, one that has united Europeans and their forests for 12,000 years. An epic story unfolding in three chapters: the conquest of the forest, from the emergence of agriculture to the disaster of the Great Plague; its near-disappearance following the Age of Discovery, driven by the explosive demand for timber from European navies, leading up to the Industrial Revolution; and finally, the return of the forest, marked by the first large-scale reforestation efforts and the emergence of ecological thought in the 19th century, right up to the threats facing today’s forests.

A cultural history of the forest that we will explore by bringing Europeans to life through evocative sequences that will open each segment: hunter-gatherers reaping the bounty provided by the forest’s rebirth as the ice receded; the first farmers from the East who, for the first time, altered the forested landscape; the abbeys of the early monks who cleared entire swaths of the European forest; the builders of cathedrals; and even contemporary environmental activists, among others. 

Through these descriptions, we will witness the transformation of the forest, the species that make it up, and the animals that live there... but above all, we will see another history of Europe unfold, an epic one, often overlooked because it is viewed through a new lens: that of the intimate and life-sustaining bond that has linked Europeans to their forests for millennia.

Directors : Thibaud Marchand and Camille Robert

Authors : Thibaud Marchand and Camille Robert

Production : O2B Films

Broadcaster : ARTE

Running time : 3 x 60 min

In development