HBO has revealed documentary Trees and Other Entanglements, directed by Peabody and Emmy-winning filmmaker Irene Taylor (HBO’s Moonlight Sonata: Deafness in Three Movements and Beware the Slenderman).
The documentary will premiere on Tuesday, December 12 (10:00-11:55 p.m. ET/PT) on HBO and will be available to stream on Max.
Filmmaker Irene Taylor crafts a poetic meditation on nature, mortality, and the passage of time in her exploration of our symbiotic nexus with trees.
Weaving together several stories of arboreal adoration, Trees and Other Entanglements unfolds as a deeply human tale of our connection to the natural world and to one another.
With the use of artful imagery, photography, and animation, the film introduces us to a diverse range of individuals entangled with the trees they love.
Through the intimate observations of an American bonsai tree master, a photographer who travels the world to capture images of rare trees, a man dedicated to planting saplings to rise after clear-cutting, and a woman celebrating the memories of her childhood, Trees and Other Entanglements traces a path of wonder and communion.
Also running through the documentary are the stories of George Weyerhaeuser Sr., a lumber baron, whose life was shaped by a childhood kidnapping, and the story of the filmmaker herself, whose struggle to eradicate ivy from choking age-old trees is a metaphorical bid to free her from the invasive grip of Alzheimer’s.
Together this mosaic of lives entwined with nature forms a breathtaking continuum of growth and destruction, of life, loss, and rebirth.
The documentary’s featured participants are Bonsai master Ryan Neil, photographer Beth Moon, forest warrior Dirk Brinkman, recollector Carolyn Finney, and lumber heir George Weyerhaeuser Sr.
HBO Documentary Films is presenting a Vermilion Films production that was produced by Irene Taylor and Peter Richardson. The executive producers are Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller and Tina Nguyen.
Click here or on the poster below to watch the trailer!
Mirko Parlevliet has been reporting on the entertainment industry since 1998 and founded Vital Thrills in 2018 to cover the latest news on streaming, movies, TV, and video games.