Among Giants: The Story of the Activists Trying to Save Northern California’s Redwood Forest

How far would you go to stand up for what you believe in? For a group of activists in the Redwoods National Forest, completely upending their lives and living in the wilderness is what they feel they have to do in order to protect the nature they love.

Among Giants is a short documentary set outside Eureka where a group of activists live in the trees in order to protect them from clear cutting. The incredible sacrifices these people take begs the question – how much of your life would you sacrifice for what you believe in?

Here is a description of the film from IMDB:

In the midst of California’s coastal redwood region, Green Diamond Resource Company continues to clearcut redwood forests, devastating habitats and leaving scars across the land. Farmer, a direct action environmental activist in his late 20s, decides to tree-sit in the McKay Tract — a 60-acre grove of ancient redwoods that is home to spotted owls, deer, flying squirrels, and countless other life forms.

AMONG GIANTS begins three years into the McKay tree-sit. On his tiny platform a hundred feet up in the ancient redwood canopy, Farmer must battle the elements and avoid isolation as he fights for a sustainable future. The film uses a verite style that reflects the pace of life in the tree village and shows the forest from Farmer’s perspective. As Farmer outlasts a vicious storm, counts the rings on a felled tree, and trumps through a recent clear cut, the film questions what it means to make personal sacrifices for a larger cause, and how a single person can affect real change in the world.

Here is the film in its entirety:

Among Giants from Rainhouse Cinema on Vimeo.

What do you think of their sacrifices?