An academic exercise with a lot of creative talent pitching in to make the experience as non-academic as possible. Even a couch potato like me felt I made an arduous trek through those mountains.
“Black Bear Forest” is screening at Taiwan Film Festival Berlin
A group of students led by an ecologist Prof Mei-Hsui Hwang and an indigenous hunter take the Batongguan traversing Trail in Yushan National park, Taiwan. The three-day journey takes them to Dafen where they plan to observe and study the Endangered Forsoman Bear.
The group recounts college stories, talk about bear hunting and conservation, and even bond with each other at more human levels while going about their study of the rare species. Though there are footage's of the Forsoman bear in daylight and at night (which is mostly expected), the documentary also depicts many other animals and birds which call this forest home. And then there is the Bunbun tribe which keeps the mysteries of the forest and considers the bears sacred.
Soothing background music especially the flute and drums accompany the experience throughout. The natural sounds of the forest have also been carefully embedded. Great camera work does the woods proud. Arial shots of the mountains, trees bathed in mist and forest trails are all exquisite. The animation narrating past events and also ones involving gore was delightful.
There is an undeniable attraction which the mountains exude and so does this documentary. What starts of as an academic expedition goes on to explore deeper and, in the end, everyone including the viewer is left with a lot more than what they started with. May not be for everyones pallette, but to explore is to risk ones familiar realms and what better way to do it than a forest in the mountains.
Trailer
