Spirit of the Forest

A little girl stumbles into a sacred grove near her village in South India. She disturbs the spirit of the forest, who takes her on an adventure to illuminate the origins of this ancient swampland. In most films, plants are nothing more than background scenery. But in truth, they often serve as living museums of our ecological heritage. A fascinating manifestation of this are “sacred groves” — relict forests found in pockets all over the world that have been preserved by indigenous communities through folklore grounded in scientific principle. The Myristica swamps of south India, with their bizarre tangle of aerial roots, are especially interesting because many unique flora and fauna found here have their origins in ancient Gondwanaland. As a botanical artist, a screenwriter, and a 2D animator, we wanted to harness the power of storytelling to engage children (and adults) with the complexities of their increasingly endangered environments. We wanted to play with the idea of making plants central to the plot of the film, grounding all the hand-painted artwork in real species from the region. With the support of a National Geographic Storytelling Fellowship, we visited the swamps along with biologists, sound artists and locals, and left feeling that the layers of meaning we unearthed demanded an experience that could really take viewers on a journey. Our vision was to capture the fragile essence of this interconnected web of nature and culture through a tale of magic, fantasy and the human imagination.