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The Ancient Woods

Name: The Ancient Woods
Director: Mindaugas Survila
Released: 2018
Duration: 85 min

Representation Score

7.5/10

Good

2018

Director

Mindaugas Survila

Runtime

85 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

The Ancient Woods stands as a radical departure from typical documentary conventions. It shifts away from human-centric storytelling to emphasize an ecological perspective, eliminating dialogue and commentary to highlight the natural world. While the film does not engage with human social structures like race or gender, its refusal to impose these frameworks disrupts conventional storytelling methods. It emphasizes the 'otherness' of the forest over human-centric narratives. Ultimately, the film provides a meditative exploration of coexistence. It values existence for its own sake, presenting a post-humanist framework where biological cycles take precedence over human institutions.

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Category Breakdown

Does The Ancient Woods have LGBTQ+ representation?

Fair

The film does not feature any human characters or social identities. It observes biological mating rituals without assigning social or gendered meanings.

How does The Ancient Woods portray gender?

Fair

By excluding humans, the film avoids traditional gender roles. There are no depictions of leadership, domestic life, or social roles based on gender.

How racially and ethnically diverse is The Ancient Woods?

Fair

The focus is on the ecosystem rather than human diversity. The film showcases a wide variety of biological species within a single habitat.

How does The Ancient Woods represent religion and culture?

Good

The work challenges traditions centered around humans by shifting the focus away from human experiences. It promotes a non-human perspective by avoiding authoritative narration and moral lessons.

Does The Ancient Woods include disability representation?

Fair

Since there are no human subjects, the film does not address neurodivergence or physical disabilities. It focuses on organisms governed by biological laws.

Present on Screen

Challenges human-centric hierarchies by removing authoritative narration and linguistic categorization.
Promotes a post-humanist framework that prioritizes biological existence over social constructs.
Offers a sensory-driven, non-narrative experience that allows forest inhabitants to exist independently of human interpretation.

Limited or Absent

Does not engage with traditional identity politics or human social representation.
Does not address human-centric themes such as race, gender, or disability due to its ecological focus.

Official Synopsis

A poetic and atypical nature film about the various inhabitants of an old-growth forest, on the ground, in the air and in the water. There's no commentary, only the rich, almost palpable sounds of the forest and the magical situations captured by the camera. Although we might sometimes be puzzled as to what's actually happening a mating ritual or the start of a fight? the lack of explanation leaves space for us to associate freely and simply experience the images. The film offers a close-up view of a wide range of creatures such as the insect that appears out of the melting snow, gradually begins to move and impatiently waits until all its legs are free so it can fly away. The scale of the portraits is sometimes grand and at other times modest, but always filmed with precision, whether in daylight or at night. Time doesn't seem to matter in this extraordinary piece of slow cinema.

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