The Forest for the Trees

The Forest for the Trees

2003. Germany. Directed by Maren Ade. With Eva Löbau, Daniela Holtz, Jan Neumann. In director Ade’s feature debut a young woman, Melanie, has a vision of her future, or at least what it should be. Determined to establish a better life for herself and her community, the slightly awkward Melanie moves away from her family and her lethargic boyfriend to teach a new generation in a new town in the German provinces. Her idealism is battered by the unwillingness of the members of that close-knit society to accept her optimistic overtures (as odd and off-putting as they may be) and by the real cruelty just below the surface in the people around her. Stymied by their pervasive rejection of change, she must confront her own naïveté and loss of direction. Shot with a handheld digital video camera, the film has all the rawness and urgency of a low-budget documentary. In German; English subtitles. 81 min.