When a Tree Falls in the Forest

In a remote mountain village, a PTSD-ridden ex-army sniper is on the verge of suicide, when the retiring local forest guard chief offers him a job protecting the forest. He accepts the new assignment as a sacred duty, which soon gets him into an open conflict with the all-powerful timber mafia.

After a career as a NATO special forces sniper has brought him to the verge of suicide, Yussein (45) finds an unexpected second chance when the forestry chief in his home village, Rangel (67), offers him to join the forest guard, the one true way to fulfil his patriotic duty. As he rejoins the world of the living, Yussein meets Rangel's youngest daughter Velina (36), who has returned home to take a break from an overwhelming life in Berlin. Six months later, Yussein and Velina, pregnant with a baby he has accepted as his own, are about to move in together. The moment Rangel retires, however, the newly-elected mayor Khamid (55) and his sociopathic son Meddy (27) start a massive logging campaign in the centuries-old forest above the village, its protected status miraculously revoked. When all peaceful and legal means to stop them prove futile, Yussein sees no other way but to abandon the promise of a normal, happy life and wage war on the ruthless timber mafia.

Keywords: environment, corruption, wild west

Director's note:
We Bulgarians are proud of our country's majestic mountains and their centuries-old forests. For centuries they have sheltered fighters against foreign conquerors and oppressive government regimes. There's even an expression in our language – “I’ll hit the forest”. It means that someone is so angry or disgusted with the state of things that they want to escape society and start a fight for what's right. Why, then, does this nation allow its forests to be destroyed? The so-called timber mafia is enslaving people in remote regions, controlling both politicians and the media. As peaceful protests prove futile, I keep wondering when someone will finally be sick of it all and hit the forest. But what defines what's right? Where is the line that mustn’t be crossed when defending even the most sacred idea? This is a very personal project for me in the importance of which I strongly believe and I'm convinced that the universal conflicts it depicts will move audiences all over the world.

Producer's note:
We plan to position the film as a high-quality, gripping drama set in the beautiful and mystical Rhodope mountains. The film freely moves between the specifics of the local culture, its hierarchies, both spoken and unspoken and the universal with themes like justice, honour and responsibility. And it is exactly these types of contemporary, previously untold stories that we as producers and viewers value and prioritise in our work.

Regarding the financing of the project, we have already secured all public funding in Bulgaria and we have attached national co-producers to the project. We are now looking for international co-producers to join us and help us bring this unique story to life. We are open to different kinds of creative and technical collaboration. Our main search is to find a co-producer for the post-production of the project but we are also happy to have a partner for the shoot.