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In Search of Old Growth is a living film series by filmmaker Chloé Mossessian and composer Hank Midnight.

An old growth forest is one in which the ecosystem has not undergone a major environmental catastrophe— such as wildfire or blight— in a very long time. Signs that you might be walking beneath an old growth canopy include rich biodiversity as well as evidence of decay: a process which feeds the mycorrhizal network so essential to communication between trees. In «Entangled Life» Merlin Sheldrake describes the nature of mycorrhizal networks in forests:


The networks are inconceivably complicated, their implications huge and still poorly understood. Imagine the puzzlement of an extraterrestrial anthropologist who discovered, after decades of studying modern humanity, that we had something called the Internet. It’s a bit like that for contemporary ecologists.
Because the question of when a forest becomes «old growth» remains somewhat elusive, there is no universally accepted manual on how to manage them. However, the cost of «sleeping behind the wheel» when it comes to preserving old growth forests has cataclysmic implications, as they serve an essential function in storing carbon, in purifying water systems, in maintaining healthy nutrient cycles, and in providing a home for a wealth of species of flora and fauna.

In our search for old growth forests, we must account for their absence. Where does our search begin? Perhaps in the most important preservation tool we have — the human imagination.

As a filmmaking duo, we feel a sense of urgency to produce a series that explores the majesty of forests from the perspective of humble students. It is our hope that In Search of Old Growth will provide a space for generative inquiry around forests and our evolving relationship with them.

* Sheldrake, Merlin. Entangled Life: How fungi make our worlds, change our minds and shape our futures (Vintage, 2021). p.13

2023
13’

How does a forest perceive itself? How does a forest dream of itself?

At dawn, the film contemplates Pyrenean borders that old growth forests and humans have been sharing for thousands of years, through vernacular tales, songs in ancient languages and the subterranean wonders of the majestic Ossau Valley.

Episode made as part of Frontières Nomades artist residency. Production: accès)s( cultures électroniques and Etopia Center for Art and Technology

"Tandis que le silence s’appuyait à tous les troncs, la voix de la source nous appelait parmi les ombres obliques du soir. “

“L’eau glisse toujours comme si elle tombait d’une étoile. Celui qui s’y penche y retrouve le visage du vieux berger."

— J.-S. Pons, Le Souvenir de Manel (Concert d'été, 1945)



Excerpts (in French) from “Le Souvenir de Manel” written by catalan poet J.-S. Pons. Read by his grandson, painter Sébastien Frère, recorded by filmmaker Claude Mossessian. Sorède, November 2022. Merci à eux !