Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.
The Redwood Forest Defense (RFD) is a loose-knit group of activists who use nonviolent protest tactics to fight industrial logging in Northern California. And, as the short documentary Sentinels details, this includes a now years-long tree-sitting campaign to protect an 18-acre stretch of pine, fir and redwood trees in an otherwise quiet slice of Humboldt County, California. To make the film, the US directors Derek Knowles and Lawrence Lerew made visits to the protest site over the course of nearly 200 days, including to the small camps atop redwoods some 100 feet from the ground. The resulting portrait is an observational look into the group’s unyielding commitment to their cause, which requires a unique melding of survivalism, tree-climbing and activism expertise, and, perhaps above all else, the endurance to outlast the time, money and resources of their opponents. By allowing the camera to linger on scenes, Knowles and Lerew skilfully convey the passage of time, and contrast the quiet serenity of the treetop camps with sights and sounds of industrial logging just a few hundred feet away.
Directors: Derek Knowles, Lawrence Lerew
video
Archaeology
How researchers finally solved the puzzle of the oldest known map of the world
18 minutes
video
Evolution
How – and how not – to think about the role randomness plays in evolution
60 minutes
video
Art
A prisoner in Guantánamo finds some escape in building intricate model ships
6 minutes
video
Meaning and the good life
A Japanese religious community makes an unlikely home in the mountains of Colorado
9 minutes
video
Sex and sexuality
From secret crushes to self-acceptance – a joyful chronicle of ‘old lesbian’ stories
29 minutes
video
Making
Forging a cello from pieces of wood demands its own form of virtuosity
27 minutes
video
Education
Scenes from a school year paint a refreshingly nuanced portrait of rural America
25 minutes
video
Physics
The rhythms of a star system inspire a pianist’s transfixing performance
5 minutes
video
Art
Watch as Japan’s surplus trees are transformed into forest-tinted crayons
4 minutes