Once Upon a Time in a Forest

Ida and Minka are in their early twenties and love the Finnish forests. They swim in crystal-clear lakes, watch the animals who live in the trees, and glide on skis through enchanted snowscapes. But the country’s extensive timber industry has put the last untouched parts of this magical world under threat. Ida and Minka get together with other young people to fight for the preservation of the forest. Flying the flag of the Extinction Rebellion movement, they organize protests at paper factories, the access roads for logging trucks, and on the city streets of Helsinki. The film shows the two young women speaking to the group, their grandparents, with chairmen of the logging industry, and on their trips into nature, when they try to connect with their surroundings. In those scenes, we also see the remaining primeval forest in all its beauty. Those breathtaking images constitute a powerful plea for the protection of the wooded biotope.