Green

"Green" is a documentary film that will screen at the 2009 Durango Independent Film Festival March 4th-8th. Using a strong visual storytelling structure and a creative sound bed, this film documents the last moments of a female orangutan's life.

We first see the orangutan, who we'll later learn is named Green, in a duffel bag with head hanging out, riding in the back of a pickup truck. This initial shot is emotionally shocking and lasts for what feels like a full minute or more. The viewer has no context of the circumstances. I wasn't sure it was alive.

Shortly after, we discover that the form of this film is absent of interviews and narration. In fact, not many words are heard throughout the entire piece. The narrative proceeds with a dissolve, from the bed-sickened Green into her life memories. We experience a lush jungle and rich ecosystem, full of primates and other wildlife.

The filmmaker uses point-of-view and dutch-angle shots to place us into the orangutan's perspective. As the story continues, Green's perspective is juxtaposed with the process of development destroying her home through deforestation to biodiesel production. It's a gradual transition into the harsh reality of globalization. The forest is destroyed, primates suffer, palm oil is manufactured, and the fast-paced urban world seems oblivious.

"Her name is Green, she is alone in a world which doesn't belong to her. She is a female orangutan, victim of deforestation and palm oil plantations." (short synopsis)

"Green's" heart-felt message addresses our current global crisis through a universal lens. This well-constructed, cinematic story is a must-see at DIFF this year.