FILMMAKER COMING TO NEW ZEALAND FOR THE LAUNCH OF THE AWARD-WINNING DOCUMENTARY,
A WILL FOR THE WOODS
New Zealand screening of award winning 'A Will for the Woods' - 17 November 7pm Waikumete Cemetery, Auckland with
Director Amy Browne discussing green burials (interviews available pre-screening), hosted by Sir Bob Harvey.
“Moving and inspiring…the film is about a life of purpose and a death with meaning.”
– Nell Minow, The Huffington Post
“A powerful, personal testament to the ‘green burial’ movement…with humor, eloquence, anguish and reflection.”
– Sylvia Pfeiffenberger, Indy Week
“Must-see … Has the potential to affect not just individual viewers but the American way of death.”
– Marianna Torgovnick, TED Blog
Logline: What if our last act could be a gift to the planet? Determined that his final resting place will benefit the
earth, musician and psychiatrist Clark Wang prepares for his own green burial.
Australian filmmaker Amy Browne, who co-directed A WILL FOR THE WOODS with Jeremy Kaplan, Tony Hale, and Brian Wilson,
while living in Brooklyn, NYC, is coming to New Zealand to release the award-winning documentary, following its major
success in the US.
There are two New Zealand screenings:
Auckland
When: Tuesday, 17 November 2015, 6.30pm for 7pm
Where: Waikumete Cemetery, Chapel 1, Great North Rd, Glen Eden
Palmerston North
Reel Earth Film Festival
When: Sat, Nov 14th at 3pm
Where: Palmerston North, NZ
Globe Theatre, 312 Main Street
Following a successful theatrical release at New York City’s Village East Cinema in 2014 and screenings at over 40
leading film festivals where it picked up nine awards, including four audience awards, the film went on to screen at
cinemas and community centres around North America and is scheduled to premiere on American public television via America ReFramed on Tuesday, February 24th.
Browne, producer and co-director who now resides in Melbourne, is thrilled to be able to present the film in her home
country, with co-director and cinematographer Jeremy Kaplan joining her from the States between March 23rd - April 10th.
Partnering with members of the natural burial movement here, the team are hoping that the film will resonate in the same
way with an Australian audience and help to further advance this meaningful concept into mainstream consciousness.
The co-directors write in their filmmakers’ statement, “What drew the four of us to the topic was not a fascination with death, but an instinctual connection to this
life-affirming, new/old idea that our bodies can remain within the cycle of life and death.”
Synopsis: What if our last act could be a gift to the planet? Musician, psychiatrist, and folk dancer Clark Wang prepares for
his own green burial in this immersive documentary.
While battling lymphoma, Clark has discovered a burgeoning movement that uses burial to conserve and restore natural
areas, forgoing contemporary funeral practices that operate at the ecosystem’s expense. Boldly facing his mortality,
Clark and his partner Jane have become passionate about green burial, compelled by both the environmental benefits and
the idea that one can remain within the cycle of life, rather than being cut off from it. The spirited pair have
inspired a compassionate local cemeterian, and together they aim to use green burial to save a North Carolina woods from
being clear-cut.
Making the most of the time that he has, Clark finds joy in his music and dance, connection with his friends and family,
and great comfort in the knowledge that his death, whenever it happens, will be a force for regeneration. The film
follows Clark’s dream of leaving a loving, permanent legacy, and environmentalism takes on a deeply human intimacy.
Documenting one community's role in the genesis of a revolutionary movement, A Will for the Woods draws the viewer into a life-affirming portrait of people embracing their connection to each other and to timeless
natural cycles.
About green burial: Green burial is a simple and natural alternative to resource-intensive contemporary burial or cremation. The deceased
is laid to rest in the earth using only biodegradable materials and without a vault or toxic embalming, in a woodland or
other natural setting, often with a fieldstone or indigenous plant marking the grave. This practice can be used as a
conservation tool, enabling the acquisition, restoration, and stewardship of natural areas. Simple natural burials were
prevalent for thousands of years (and still are in many parts of the world, including in traditional Muslim and Jewish
burials) before the contemporary funeral industry propagated the standard of expensive and elaborate funerals divorced
from natural processes.
Awards:
AUDIENCE AWARD – Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
ENVIRONMENTAL AWARD – Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
AUDIENCE AWARD – Rhode Island International Film Festival
"FORK IN THE ROAD" AWARD – Greentopia Film Festival
AUDIENCE AWARD – New Orleans Film Festival
PROGRAMMER'S AWARD – The Virginia Film Festival
AUDIENCE AWARD – San Francisco IndieFest
JURY AWARD – San Francisco IndieFest
JURY AWARD – Kansas City FilmFest
ENDS