Join us on December 13 for a screening of Life and Death of a Christmas Tree! Lithuanian documentary filmmaker Arturas Jevdokimovas will be present for a discussion on how he went behind the scenes to discover the billion-dollar business of a magical holiday tradition, with producer Ringailė Leščinskienė, and will be moderated by independent writer Elissaveta M. Brandon.
If you stop someone in any European town to tell them that their festive, bushy Christmas tree originated in Georgia, they will be surprised — the trees are often labeled in Danish. But in fact the seeds of the fir cones are harvested every autumn in Georgia. Only later are they sold to the Danish, who grow the seedlings and then sell the trees across Europe.
In this social drama set between two communities, Jevdokimovas explores the Christmas tree businesses in both countries, observing their sharp differences in living conditions, attitudes and mentality. Where the Danish Christmas trees growers belong to the middle class in wealthy Northern Europe, the Georgians live in a remote mountainous poor part of Georgia, exhausted by several wars and painful transfer from Soviet regime to democracy. In contrast to the relative safety of the Danish tree business, Georgian cone pickers face daily danger — scaling up to 60 meters to reach the tops of Georgian firs. As we follow this journey of ultimate winter symbol from their Georgian seeds to our homes, the film reflects on the meaning of this festive tradition, and its human cost against a backdrop of consumerism.
“Plant a tree by watching a film” For each attendee who will watch the film and a Christmas tree will be planted in your name. You will have to scan the QR code on the screen, and the film’s partner “I Love Forest” will plant a fir tree and will send you a certificate with a geographical location tag.
