2007-02-10T12:58:00.000-08:00

The Forest for the Trees

Look for The Forest for the Trees on the Sundance Channel's THE GREEN, TV's first series completely dedicated to the earth and sustainability.

“A powerful and elegant documentary, beautifully done.”
- Howard Zinn

“Absorbing.”
- The Philadelphia Weekly

"A documentary must-see."
- Missoulian

"Mellis' access to behind-the-scenes legal
strategizing is fascinating, and her ode to her
principled, passionate parent is well-deserved."
- The Oregonian

"Oral history at its finest...Haunting footage
of Bari's speeches and interviews prior to her death
are interwoven to great effect, and imbue the tale
with a sense of urgency and poignancy...a gem."
- Willamette Week

“Wonderfully done: well-paced, thought-provoking and
moving. It is a love letter to Bari and to Cunningham and
a testament to perseverance and fighting the good fight.”
- New York Cool

THE FOREST FOR THE TREES is an intimate, behind-the scenes look at an unlikely team of young activists and old lefties who come together to battle the U.S. government.

Filmmaker Bernadine Mellis is the daughter of civil rights lawyer Dennis Cunningham, who started out his career representing the Black Panthers and the Weathermen.

Judi Bari was an Earth First! leader who was one of the first to place as much importance on the legacy and future of the trees as she did on timber workers' lives and families. But that strategic relationship was too much of a threat. Her car was bombed in 1990, and three hours later, she was arrested as a terrorist--charges that were later dropped. Convinced it was a ploy by the FBI to discredit her and Earth First!, Judi decided to sue.

Cunningham took on Judi's case and after 12 years, Judi Bari v. the FBI finally gets a court date. Knowing this is one of her father's most important cases, Mellis is there at strategy meetings, at breakfast, driving to and from the court, documenting her morally driven, very tired dad. Not your typical “Take your daughter to work day,” THE FOREST FOR THE TREES offers access to a piece of U.S. history that everyday grows increasingly resonant.

THE FOREST FOR THE TREES is the first film to be executive produced by CHICKEN & EGG PICTURES. Founded in 2005 by Julia Parker Benello, Judith Helfand and Wendy Ettinger, CHICKEN & EGG’s goal is to provide small development/we-believe-in-you grants and executive producing services to emerging and veteran women filmmakers with nonfiction and fiction film projects that C & E consider to be important, cutting edge and necessary for the world to see. The topics and issues these films address underscores our overall mission: health and justice, the environment, and the ever emboldened push for corporate and government accountability in the US and globally.

Outreach and organizing for THE FOREST FOR THE TREES is being coordinated by WORKING FILMS, a national organization that is a bridge between non-fiction filmmaking and on-the-ground grassroots organizing and concrete social change.

contact: bernadine.mellis@gmail.com