A Finnish youth environmental activism documentary that is surprisingly genteel, and hence quietly effective and reflective, encouraging us to be compassionate to activists—and as activists—in active modes of disruption.
Review #2,847
Dir. Virpi Suutari
2024 | Finland | Documentary | 93 min | 2.35:1 | Finnish
NC16 (passed clean) for some nudity
Cast: –
Plot: Biodiversity and generation gaps collide in a politically urgent and thoughtful film about two young activists’ fight to save the vast Finnish forests. Is it still civil disobedience when you know you have both history and the future on your side?
Awards: –
International Sales: Autlook Films
Accessibility Index
Subject Matter: Moderate – Youth Activists; Environmental Activism
Narrative Style: Straightforward
Pace: Slightly Slow
Audience Type: Niche Mainstream
Viewed: Screener (as part of Singapore Film Society Showcase)
Spoilers: No
Have you ever read news about young activists throwing paint at famous museum paintings or blocking traffic by plonking themselves in the middle of a busy road to protest against oil companies destroying the environment?
It’s for a good cause but it’s annoying isn’t it? But then again, if it isn’t annoying enough, their disruptive act won’t make sense.
Once Upon a Time in a Forest is about these kinds of youths—passionate, brave and occasionally way too idealistic—though in Finland where this documentary is set, activism, and its associated reaction by the authorities, feels ‘kinder’.
That is also the vibe of this genteel film that doesn’t push for polemical discourse but encourages us to be compassionate to activists—and as activists—in active modes of disruption.
Maybe it is the Finnish culture of mutual respect or the magical air they breathe, continually refreshed for centuries by their boreal forests. These taigas are critical for biodiversity in the already fragile ecosystem, a point repeated to mostly deaf ears by 22-year-old Ida, one of the leaders of the new Forest Movement.
“I don’t want it looking like we’re doing it out of malice.”
As Ida and her peers strategise what the next course of disruptive action could look like, director Virpi Suutari gives us entrancing scenes of the Finnish natural wonderland—the beautiful lakes, the aforesaid coniferous forests, and the animals that call these spaces their home.
These activists, also operating as surveyors, traverse endless stretches of snow, marvelling at what nature can produce.
With accompanying peaceful ambient music and strings, Once Upon a Time in a Forest might not possess the didacticism of more provocative documentaries, but it is quietly effective and reflective of the generation gap that exists in environmental activism today.
More youths are increasingly worried—incensed even—that the world that older generations in power will leave behind won’t meet their standards of care and sustainability. Ida is a shining star, doing her part with grace and dignity.
Grade: B+
Trailer:
Eternality Tan 