A Will For The Woods

A Will For The Woods

Directors: Amy Browne, Jeremy Kaplan, Tony Hale, Brian Wilson
Genre: Documentary, Drama
Running Time: 93 minutes

Synopsis: What if our last act could be a gift to the planet? Determined that his final resting place will benefit the earth, musician, psychiatrist, and folk dancer Clark Wang prepares for his own green burial while battling lymphoma. The spirited Clark and his partner Jane, boldly facing his mortality, embrace the planning of a spiritually meaningful funeral and join with a compassionate local cemeterian to use green burial to save a North Carolina woods from being clear-cut.

With poignancy and unexpected humor, A Will for the Woods portrays the last days of a multifaceted advocate – and one community's role in the genesis of a revolutionary movement. As the film follows Clark's dream of leaving a legacy in harmony with timeless cycles, environmentalism takes on a profound intimacy.

A Will For The Woods
Release Date: Australian screening details: http://www.awillforthewoods.com/upcoming-screenings
Website: www.awillforthewoods.com

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, returns home to release their award-winning documentary, following its major success in the US.

The film will premiere at the Transitions Film Festival at Melbourne's Cinema Nova March 4th, before being shown across the country at venues in Tasmania, Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Byron Bay, Port Kembla (where Australian doc Tender, about community based funerals, was produced), and even more. The list continues to grow, with a series of unique screenings in green cemeteries happening throughout March and April. The film will return to Melbourne for a screening at ACMI as part of Climarte festival on April 5th, which will also mark the Australian launch of the DVD and VOD (iTunes and Vimeo) as part of the film's international home entertainment release in celebration of Earth Month.

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."