Private Project

The Forest in Me

‘The Forest in Me’ opens out from a personal story about living with uncertainty, to reflect upon quiet possibilities of love and human connection.
The film interweaves the story of Agafya Lykova, an 80-year-old hermit surviving alone in the Siberian Forest who scares bears away by banging on space-rocket debris, a crew simulating life on Mars in isolation on a Hawaiian volcano, and the filmmaker’s child discovering the world. Juxtaposing Siberian forests and volcanic vistas, she draws images from her personal film footage growing up in Hastings, East Sussex, an archive spanning over twenty-five years. Together, these threads form a 'letter to the future' from a mother to her son, reflecting on resilience and timeless human experiences.

The soundtrack, composed by the ensemble Xylouris White, (drummer Jim White [Dirty Three], Cretan lutist Giorgos Xylouris, Guy Picciotto of NYC [Fugazi]) adds a haunting, immersive layer to the experience. Apollonia Xylouris contributes additional vocals.

  • Rebecca Elizabeth Marshall
    Director
  • Rebecca Elizabeth Marshall
    Writer
  • Rebecca Elizabeth Marshall
    Producer
  • Rebecca E Marshall
    Editor
  • Daniel Passes
    Editor
  • Jim White
    Music
    (bands) Dirty Three, PJ Harvey, Mark Kozelek, Bonnie Prince Billy, Cat Power, Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile, Smog, The Blackeyed Susans, Venom P. Stinger, and Nina Nastasia.
  • Giorgos Xylouris
    Music
  • Guy Picciotto
    Music
    Fugazi (NYC band)
  • Sarah Cunningham
    Cinematography
    Chuck Chuck Baby
  • Chu-Li Shewring
    Sound
    Hunger, A Spell to Ward off The Darkness
  • Apollonia Xylouris
    singer
    Frenzee
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Feature
  • Genres:
    essay, environmental, childhood, philosophical, hermit, siberia, life-on-mars, East Sussex, film-letter, motherhood
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 9 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    January 1, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    60,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United States, Greece, Iceland, Russian Federation, United Kingdom, United States
  • Language:
    English, Russian
  • Shooting Format:
    HD
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Made in Sussex Festival
    Lewes
    United Kingdom
    April 26, 2025
    UK
    WINNER: Best Documentary
  • Thessaloniki doc fest
    Thessaloniki
    Greece
    March 10, 2024
    World
    Nominated for Film Forward Competition
  • HECare Film Festival (Human-Environment Care Film Festival HECFF)
    Ontario
    Canada
    September 26, 2024
    Semi-Finalist
  • JACKSON DOC FEST - Humanity Category
    Jackson
    United States
    October 5, 2024
    Selected for Humanity Category
  • Rohip International Film Festival
    Tamil Nadu
    India
    July 31, 2024
    Best Documentary Feature Film
Director Biography - Rebecca Elizabeth Marshall

I am an artist filmmaker. I film as daily practice of looking more slowly at the world. To pay attention as a type of care. I have been building a filmic sketch book of footage for 25 years. My core process includes the use of this expanding reservoir of vibrant images as a quiet, personal rebellion - to look after the things I see in the way I can, and to protect my sensitivity to our mysterious and serendipitous world.

I co-founded an independent cinema The Electric Palace in Hastings, UK. For over twenty years I curated a year-round programme of films and events. This special space provided a place for collaborations and conversations between film-lovers and filmmakers, and for the creation of new projects. I stepped down in 2023.

I completed a PhD in film by practice with Exeter University and The London Film School in 2022, developing a filmmaking methodology through studying the essays of humanist philosopher Michel De Montaigne. I formed Dear Future Films in 2023 to make docs and film-poems.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I make films as a way of thinking. I use my cameras as fingertips to be playful and to explore moments that emerge with deeper attention. I use my uncertainties about the world as starting points, beginning at home. I feel my way as a filmmaker, a mother and a woman, embracing how these shifting experiences overlap and inform each other.