Screening in the Gut Eibenhof culture barn 

Moderation: Andrea Thilo

Speaker: Rolf Lindemann, District Administrator of the Oder-Spree district

Program Flow:

Presentation youth project

Break (20 min)

Film screening of THE FOREST MAKER, followed by a discussion with the filmmakers

Featuring director Volker Schlöndorff, actress Katja Riemann, and Benedikt Bösel, agricultural economist and founder of Gut&Bösel

The Forest Maker

In 1981, the Australian Tony Rinaudo arrived in Niger as a young agricultural scientist to combat the growing spread of deserts and the misery of the population. Radical clearing had left the land desolate and exhausted once-ferrible soils. However, Rinaudo's attempts to stop the desert by planting trees failed, and nearly all of his saplings died. Then he noticed a vast root network beneath the supposedly dead soil – a discovery that triggered an unprecedented regreening campaign and gave new hope to countless people.

Oscar winner Volker Schlöndorff dedicates his first documentary to the life's work of Tony Rinaudo, who for decades has practiced and promoted a simple pruning technique alongside farmers in several African countries. The film portrays people doing extraordinary things and teaches us the value of community, self-empowerment, and hope.