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The Forests of a Desert Land 🌳

Our planet’s most ancient desert calls Namibia its home. Far removed from the mighty sea of sand, there are luscious forests withstanding the arid land. But these forests are under attack. Told through the eyes of a school girl, a marathon runner and an old farmer, these stories remind us that life in a desert land requires the shadow of a tree.

  • Tim Huebschle
    Director
  • Tim Huebschle
    Writer
  • David Benade
    Producer
  • Tim Huebschle
    Producer
  • Haiko Boldt
    Cinematographer
  • Project Type:
    Web / New Media
  • Runtime:
    12 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    December 15, 2021
  • Country of Origin:
    Namibia
  • Country of Filming:
    Namibia
  • Language:
    Other
  • Shooting Format:
    6K
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Dances with Films
    Los Angeles, California
    United States
    June 18, 2022
    International Premiere
    Official Selection
  • International Documentary & Short Film Festival of Kerala
    Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
    India
    August 28, 2022
    Asian Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Silicon Valley African Film Festival
    San Jose, California
    United States
    October 15, 2022
    Official Selection
Distribution Information
  • collective.com.na
    Distributor
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Tim Huebschle

Tim Huebschle is a Namibian director and producer. A focus on compelling stories rooted in the real world informed Tim’s filmmaking career since 2000, culminating in various acclaimed documentaries, short films and music videos. In 2009 he co-founded Collective Productions and began directing Namibian stories for the international market including multiple episodes for two seasons of a German docuseries, documentaries for a Chinese news channel and a feature-length crime thriller screened in Namibian cinemas and at global festivals. Moving with the times, Tim focuses on creating content for the web since 2020.

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Director Statement

So little is known about my homeland, but if there’s one thing that manages to transcend oblivion it is the Namib Desert. Massive sand dunes meeting the Atlantic Ocean for hundreds of miles. It’s beautiful – and deadly. Beyond the desert lies an often drought-stricken land, barren, yet sometimes fertile when the rain chooses to fall. In the far north there are forests. They are magical places bursting with life and mystery. But the magic is disappearing.

People are chopping down trees. They have done so for hundreds of years. Wood was and is used for building houses and fences, for cooking, for making tools and crafts. The forest provides. But here’s the thing, over the last three decades the forests of northern Namibia have been cut unsustainably. There’s industrial, mechanized chopping going on – and there’s the continued use of the wood by the local population who needs it to ensure their livelihood. No new trees are planted. Forests are randomly burnt to the ground to enable agricultural land use or swift extraction of valuable hard wood.

Already marred by scorching temperatures in the long summer from September to March, the desertification of our land marches on, while we just wait and see what will happen next - as if climate change ends at our national border.

Our three protagonists share how they interact with and rely on the remaining forests. A village girl collects fire wood for cooking every single day. A marathon runner needs to breathe better. A farmer waits longer and longer for the rain every year. These glimpses into the rural lives are meant to inspire all of us to stop for a moment, just stop. And now think about what are you doing to keep the forests of a desert land alive?