‘Up a Tree’ captures activists in the Hambach Forest who are living in treehouses in order to protect the forest against the expansion of the adjacent lignite mine. A symbolic fight which got a deeper meaning in regard to the decision to phase out lignite by 2038. Phasing out coal is indubitably the right decision for the environment, but this decision will also imply the loss of thousands of jobs in the coal mines. In what way the government and the RWE will resolve this social economic problem is not clear.
This film captures both these stories and brings them together in a documentary of approximately twenty minutes. It is a film that gives a unique view on the conflict in the eyes of a passionate activist living in a treehouse and willing to give his life for a better environment on the one side and a hard worker who makes a living from the lignite, but struggles an uncertain future and a fear of losing his culture, on the other side.
Director Biography – Bodil Tummers , Hannah Cammeraat
We are Hannah Cammeraat (left) and Bodil Tummers (right). We got to know each other during our time at the School of Journalism in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Throughout the course of our study, we have spent much time together. Therefore, we knew that working together as colleagues and spending hours in a small edit room was not going to be a problem. Creating our first documentary together was an opportunity we just had to take. We both are specialized in videography. In addition, Bodil immersed herself in film history and photography during her time abroad in Australia. Hannah improved her skills with the camera while interning at the regional news station of Utrecht.
