With manufacturing growing in the United States, and as a result of some of the manufacturing, America’s forests need help being regrown. A group of guest workers from Oaxaca is now tasked with planting thousands of trees in order to help the planet and the industry. A Thousand Pines tells the story of these workers, who travel around the country, far from their families, in order to make a living and better the planet.
A Thousand Pines initially appeared to be a documentary that would focus on the regrowth of trees, and explain how the industry has affected the American forests–and, as silly as it might sound, I was actually really interested in hearing about this. The opening of the film almost promised this, and then just as quickly as it made this promise, it reneged. From that moment forward A Thousand Pines became difficult to pay attention to. Understand that this isn’t a knock on the actual content of the film, but simply that I was frustrated that the film didn’t deliver on the content that it seemingly promised, and that twist altered the viewing experience.
The story present in A Thousand Pines is actually quite interesting, and I believe that the documentary does a great job of showcasing the sacrifices of everyone involved. The film is incredibly intimate, and it captures the truth about the experiences of those guest workers. While the unintentional misdirection isn’t so great, being able to understand these sacrifices allows viewers the opportunity to appreciate the film.
A Thousand Pines promises to be something that it’s not, and even though the film is entertaining, there’s a piece of that promise that still lingers in the back of viewers’ minds that they can’t quite escape. The film means well, and I believe it expresses emotion appropriately, but as a result of me being so stubborn, I struggled to appreciate aspects of the documentary.
Directed by Sebastian Diaz Aguirre & Noam Osband.
6.5/10 = WATCH IT FOR FREE
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