MAFF Web Cinema
On this page, you'll find a selection of films screened at the Matsalu Nature Film Festival.
Vertical Money (2024)
Director Martti Helde"Vertical Money" is a nature catastrophe film that made scandalous news even before it’s release in Estonia. Shot in more than 60 different places in Estonia the film opens the viewer to the current state of Estonian forests and shows how political decisions have affected the use of the common property. The film also offers solutions to move out of the deadlock of the debate and directs attention to the information that has been buried under the messages of controlled communication in the information noise of the forest war. The same kind of war that's being held across the globe.
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The Researcher (2024)
Director Paolo CasalisGianluca Grimalda lost his job for having refused to catch a plane. Hi did an act of civil disobedience to save 5 tons of CO2. Was it worth it?
Watch On-DemandRead moreLa Macchina Fissa - Clark's Garden (2024)
Director Emilio Neri TremoladaMacchina Fissa was the name given to the pumps used to drain swamp water and irrigate agricultural land in the Po Valley. South of Mantua, in Borgo Virgilio, just beyond the banks of the Mincio River, is a pumping station built in the mid-1800s. Once operated by steam engines, it’s been in disuse for a century and is now home to the cultural association Reading Retreats in Rural Italy and Clark Lawrence’s garden. The garden is inhabited predominantly by annual plants, which, at the end of their growth cycle in late autumn, flaunt their expired vitality and their beauty even when dried out. Winter is the time for Clark to harvest seeds for the next season and carry out a vigorous garden clean-up, assisted in his enterprise by the beloved goats that clear away the remaining vegetation and actively contribute to fertilizing the garden. In spring, the sowing of new plants begins. Most loved by Clark are American plants, or rather, those of the Native Americans: pumpkins, corn, and beans, which populate the garden, together with castor oil plants, amaranths, cosmos, evening primroses, ipomoeas, and hundreds of other varieties. The documentary follows Clark in his work and his philosophy of a garden as a place in which to “swim among the plants”. A garden designed “…by looking outside at what surrounds it: the landscape, plants, climate, and manmade constructions. Looking outside first and then thinking about what to do inside”.
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Winter Harvest (2023)
Director Amélie DussaultIn the heart of winter, determined vegetable growers brave the cold by cultivating in greenhouses with little or no heating. Winter Harvest chronicles the daily lives of these pioneers who achieve the nearly-impossible feat of offering fresh locally grown vegetables year-round.
Watch On-DemandRead moreAt The Water´s Edge (2023)
Director Mirjam MatiisenUlvi has lived almost her entire life in the Soomaa National Park in the middle of a deep forest and pristine nature. Even though the river next to her house is getting to the house every year due to the subsidence of the bank and the living conditions at home are becoming more difficult, Ulvi does not intend to leave her childhood home. What keeps her here are the Tori horses, whom she has raised for decades. Also she wants to continue with her special lifestyle, which she could have only in Soomaa.
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Rhino Man (2023)
Director John Jurko II, Matt Lindenberg, Daniel Roberts"Rhino Man" is the true story of the courageous field rangers who risk their lives every day to protect South Africa's rhinos from being poached to extinction. We follow Anton Mzimba, the head ranger of the Timbavati, as he protects the rhinos. He faces long deployments, dangerous working conditions, and constant threats to his life. Nearby, a legendary trainer, Ruben de Kock, struggles to inspire a group of 41 candidates, as he takes them through a rigorous ranger selection. Tragedy strikes when Anton is assassinated at home by a poaching syndicate. Ruben laments the loss of his friend. Prince William and the international community cry out for justice. We're left with Anton's hopeful message, and the determination of the rangers who vow to carry his torch.
Watch On-DemandRead morePlanet Killers: The Prince of Carbon (2023)
Director Martin BoudotFilmteam have been granted exclusive access to the environmental crime unit of Interpol. This film is the inside story on the hunt for Cyril Astruc, the “Prince of Carbon”. Cyril Astruc has been a fugitive from justice for nearly ten years, on the run from both the French authorities and Interpol. He has an international arrest warrant for fraud and money laundering. The so-called “Prince of Carbon” masterminded a huge carbon quota fraud, which misappropriated five billion Euros from European state coffers. This money had been earmarked to fight climate change and CO2 emissions, and the fraud meant that the carbon exchange system no longer had any effect in ecological terms.
Watch On-DemandRead moreCactus Hotel (2023)
Director Yann SochaczewskiIn the American Southwest, a towering Giant graces the skies, appearing lifeless but teeming with life as an iconic luxury hotel for desert creatures, each showcasing remarkable survival, hunting, and housing abilities; united by their encounters at the remarkable Cactus Hotel, the film unveils the enthralling tale of an old Saguaro cactus, its wild guests, unique habitats, and enduring tenants who call this spiky fortress home.
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Feathers or Glamour (2023)
Director Eva KübarWith the beginning of the first corona wave in 2020, Estonia was hit by the real chicken boom. The apocalyptic tendencies in the air lead hundreds of people living in towns to start growing their own vegetables and keep chicken in backyards. For coreographer Veronika chicken stands for a glamourous companion with whom she can go to work and use in art projects as a nice decorative thing. Veronika calls herself “The Chicken Queen” and rides her pink vintage bike through Kopli district with the intention to insist neighbours to start keeping chicken as well. An anthropologist Tanel calls all his five chicken by human names and for him the birds are funny friends with whom he can make all kind of tricks - hypnotize them, make them swing on a chicken swing and teach them playing xylophone. Also is he interested of the very strict social hierarchy of chicken and likes to analyze the “school bullying” amongst chicken. For Mindi a chicken is a best friend with whom to lay down on sofa together in the evening and share her life, whom to pet and comb, sew diapers and build a special chicken house in the cellar. Mindi also knows a bit of a chicken language. The style of “Feathers or glamour” is mainly observational, although there will be 2-3 directed scenes. We depict the life a chicken in town - the beauty and glamour but also the dark sides of it - walking with chicken harness, living in a cage and wearing diapers.
Watch On-DemandRead moreWhere do frogs come from? (2023)
Director Hannes RohtmaThe film "Where Do Frogs Come From?" observes the reproduction process of the two most common frog species in Northern Europe - the common frog and the common toad - from spring migration to the tadpole-to-frog transformation in high summer. Frog action takes place on land as well as on and under water. Things for the froggies do not always go without a hitch and they too struggle with miscalculations. There are misunderstandings and quarrels they endeavor to resolve. The life of tadpoles falls short of a carefree childhood and the little guys must resort to a variety of tricks to survive.
Watch On-DemandRead moreIn the Garden (2023)
Director Natacha BoutkevitchThis is a place, a modest garden by the countryside. What is weaving here? The changing weather, the passage of time, the growth of plants, the constantly repeated gestures... A voice punctuates the film, invites us to dive into the depths of Time, in order to make ourselves fully present to the world.
Watch On-DemandRead moreThe Forest Maker (2022)
Director Volker SchlöndorffThe film portrays the Australian agronomist Tony Rinaudo (winner of alternative Nobel, Right Livelihood Award) and the local farmers who are revolutionizing our idea of agriculture and forestry in Africa, thus calling conventional reforestation into question. Volker Schlöndorff´s hopeful documentary debut.
Watch On-DemandRead moreElusive Landscapes (2022)
Director Sulev KeedusThe main characters in the documentary film "Elusive Landscapes" include Pille, Felix, Father Agaton, Hellat and Kateriina, who all live in Western Estonia. Pille, whose last surviving close relative is her daughter living in Finland, attempts to farm sheep alone while defying old age. Felix is worried about bees. Beehives remain empty, bee colonies are dying out, queens are not laying enough eggs for the new generations to hatch. Fields are being poisoned and primaeval forests are being clear-cut. Father Agaton serves small local Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church congregations, performs blessings, and administers Communion. The Estonian Defence League member Hellat and his daughter Kateriina look for silver, which is supposedly buried in the ground. Legend has it that Vikings reached the local seaside villages through a place called Neidsaare, through the reed turfs of the shallow bay.
Watch On-DemandRead moreChasing Walrus (With A Stubborn Photographer) (2022)
Director Simon StanfordWhen a film team travel to Greenland to film walrus underwater, it feels like an exciting but perfectly normal assignment. But a pack of hungry polar bears have different ideas. With the ice melted, and the walrus no-where to be seen, filmmakers Simon Stanford and Göran Ehlmé find themselves at the mercy of these arctic predators - fighting for survival in a habitat on the brink of collapse.
Watch On-DemandRead moreTending the Garden (2022)
Director Claire Weissbluth & Jesse DoddA journey through a year in the life of three family farms cultivating cannabis, food and community in the pursuit of a regenerative future.
Watch On-DemandRead moreThe Illusion of Abundance (2022)
Director Erika Gonzalez Ramirez & Matthieu LietaertThree women share a common goal: Carolina, Bertha and Maxima are leading today's fight against modern conquistadors. Whereas governments and corporations, trapped in a global race towards unlimited growth, need to get the cheapest raw materials, these three women tell us a story of tireless courage: how to keep fighting to protect nature when your life is at risk? When police repression, corporate harassment, injuries or even death threats are part of your daily routine?
Watch On-DemandRead moreNew Pigs on the Block (2022)
Director Jimmy KetsLuc, Mia and Anja are pigs. They live on a piece of no man's land between a railway and a small parking lot on the edge of the city. They are the protagonists of a neighborhood project in which they are fed surplus food by a group of volunteers. At first, this appears to be an earthly paradise for pigs, where they receive human affection and where good food abounds. But their peaceful existence is increasingly disturbed by the world around them. As summer gradually turns into autumn, their pastures are falling into disrepair and the hierarchy between the pigs is becoming more and more grim.
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Wolf (2022)
Director Cees van KempenWOLF showcases unique footage of the wolf in the wild, giving an intimate insight into the real life of this wonderful animal, its strong family bonds, its positive influence on biodiversity and how remarkably similar they are to ‘man’s best friend’.
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FoodForest (2022)
Director Louis De JaegerIn this documentary, landscape architect Louis De Jaeger outlines how food forests can save the earth from suffocation, resuscitate communities, make agriculture sustainable, reverse global warming and still produce an abundance of food. This film takes you on a trip through the secret gardens of food forest pioneers. From urban jungles to healing projects in psychiatric institutions. Because nature appears to be the best healer for the social, psychological and ecological scars that people have caused. If we give nature's resilience a chance, together we can create a new Eden. In fact, pieces of this new paradise are already visible.
Watch On-DemandRead moreAtomic Hope - Inside The Pro-Nuclear Movement (2022)
Director Frankie FentonAt the start of the 21st century, a small group of people began to publicly advocate for nuclear energy. They believe that nuclear energy is the fastest way to combat climate change. This is the story of their movement and their controversial perspectives on nuclear power.
Watch On-DemandRead moreThe Great Swamp (2022)
Director Remek MeelVello moved to the farthest swamp island of Emajõe-Suursoo 30 years ago. He left his previous labor life and the city to live in harmony with the mother of nature. There is still such a nature in Emajõe-Suursoo that is vanishing from the rest of the world. The vast delta allows the species to live on its own, without much human intervention, even though man has been seeking refuge and food supplements in the swamp for thousands of years. Vello makes a living from beekeeping and hunting, his life flows in the rhythm of nature.
Watch On-DemandRead moreLumi and Leenu (2022)
Director Mirjam MatiisenSilvi is one of the last Estonians to keep two cows in her home farm for her own use. Unfortunately Silvi sees no future in keeping the cows, so the time has come to send her two beloved animals away.
Watch On-DemandRead moreDuty of Care - The Climate Trials (2022)
Director Nic Balthazar"Duty of Care - The Climate Trials" is the inside story of Roger Cox, the lawyer who initiated ground-breaking legal actions against the Dutch government and oil giant Shell. The result: two landmark rulings that sent shockwaves through political offices and corporate boardrooms around the world, and led to a wave of international climate cases. This is a character-driven journey through the highs and lows of his trials, featuring a cast of creative lawyers, activists, and ordinary citizens pursuing what they see as the legal showdown of the century. Their story is set against interviews with world-leading experts on the principles of justice that can be applied to the greatest challenge humanity has ever faced.
Watch On-DemandRead moreBucolic (2021)
Director Karol PałkaDanusia and her daughter Basia live far away from the modern world, in tune with the rhythm and laws of nature, among animals and the spirits of the dead. The peace and sense of security offered by their enclave come at a price – the women increasingly long for contact with other people. Bucolic is an affectionate observation of people who live in a different way. It evokes a curiosity about their world and a desire to take a closer look.
Watch On-DemandRead moreSounds of the South (2021)
Director Hubert NeufeldDutch musician Ruben Hein’s love for nature and wildlife has always been central to his creativity. When he decided to visit Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic, some of the wildest regions on the planet, he had no way to know how deeply the experience would impact him. Join Hein as he searches for inspiration for his next album as he ventures among some of the far south’s most surreal landscapes and iconic creatures.
Watch On-DemandRead moreBright Green Lies (2021)
Director Julia Barnes"Bright Green Lies" investigates the change in focus of the mainstream environmental movement, from its original concern with protecting nature, to its current obsession with powering an unsustainable way of life. The film exposes the lies behind the notion that solar, wind, hydro, biomass, or green consumerism will save the planet. Tackling the most pressing issues of our time will require us to look beyond the mainstream technological solutions and ask deeper questions about what needs to change.
Watch On-DemandRead moreAbout the Forest (2021)
Director Peter MagnussonSweden has transformed more than 90% of its primeval forests and wilderness into tree plantations, and now the felling of the last stands of unprotected old-growth forests continues. How can we use the forest without consuming it?
Watch On-DemandRead moreDunes of Nõva (2021)
Director Aare BaumerNõva region appears to be one of most beautiful areas in Estonia. Singing dunes, sand and living nature is viewed through a year, from summer to summer.
Watch On-DemandRead moreThe Shamans´ Nightmare (2021)
Director Natalie HallaA very personal cinematic journey to four indigenous peoples and their shamans unexpectedly turns into an exciting testimony to the struggle for survival of these unique nomad cultures, whose physical and cultural future is existentially threatened by climate change. To give these people a voice and tell about their destiny, the director Natalie Halla has travelled to the most extreme places of the world and spent time with the Waorani Indians in Ecuador, the sea nomads in Malaysia, the Himba in Namibia and the reindeer nomads in Mongolia.
Watch On-DemandRead moreGeneration Greta (2020)
Director Simon Kessler & Johan BoulangerTheir names are Ridhima, Helena, Sixtine, Jamie, Marinel, Lilly, Melati, Elizabeth and Nicole. From Kenya to Ecuador, from France to the Philippines, they have taken up an ambitious crusade against climate change, and against the political and corporate world's climate apathy. From strikes to courts, from petitions to international conferences, they are doing everything in their power to stop the planet's devastation and build new forms of social and political life. Who are these young women fighting for their future? How did they become climate activists? Which hopes do they carry? Generation Greta interweaves the portraits of 9 young women from all around the world, aged 12 to 23, united in spite of cultural differences by one common cause: trying to finally achieve climate and social justice.
Watch On-DemandRead moreOf Mosquitoes and Men (2019)
Director Madis LigemaSome of this planet's mysteries we get. It fills us with great pride and satisfaction. But how can we claim some deeper insight into the ways of the world if we don't fully understand ourselves, never mind the humble mosquito? “Of Mosquitoes and Men“ is a contemplative journey into the habitat of creatures both large and small, fathered by the Estonian nature and its fertile soil. The mosquito has assumed the role of the smallest of the living beings, and man the most important of them all. This documentary delves deep into the symbiosis between the two and into our mission on this blue sphere we call home.
Watch On-DemandRead moreOkavango: River of Dreams (2019)
Director Dereck & Beverly JoubertThis is an insiders’ view of one of the greatest river systems on the planet. It is presented as a love letter, and explores the layers of paradise, limbo and inferno in a natural history echo of Dante’s Divine Comedy, a quest to find the real Okavango, a river of dreams, or beauty of conflict and turmoil. It has real wildlife drama with a lioness who overcomes the greatest challenge of life, and warthogs who bunk up with hyenas. Elephants gently take us on their journey and hippos clash in the water, that water that is made up of trillions of droplets joining, flowing, raging and winding on down 500 miles or more of open pristine landscape. And what we discover is that this river is a reflection of us, she is humbling and hostile, a jewel and a rough storm, a nightmare for some, a dream for all of us, animal and human alike.
Watch On-DemandRead moreAcid Forest (2018)
Director Rugilė BarzdžiukaitėCan you imagine a tourist attraction where people come to see a dead forest? Where they are not only observers, but also the ones being observed and heard by the black birds? There used to be an ancient pine forest, but then several cormorants landed there. Now there are thousands of the birds and they kill the pine trees by…shitting. The human observations and responses to this environment are as multi-layered and bizarre as the history of the forest itself. The film is set in the Curonian Spit, which is a very scenic peninsula in Lithuania, edged by the Baltic sea from one side, and the lagoon from the other. It is a UNESCO heritage site, rich in natural resources and high-end beach resorts.
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