01 Jul Once Upon a Tree
‘Het Meisje en de Boom’ (Once Upon a Tree) is a documentary about a girl in an oak tree.
SYNOPSIS Sitting in her favourite oak tree, 11-year old Filine encounters little wonders in the natural world around her. She sees the beauty and dramas of the life in and around a tree most people are not aware of. Then, as trees fall down in the forest, Filine starts to fear that one day she will lose the speical oak tree. The rebellious girl makes a plan to stop the tree chopping in the forest.
But what if nothing changes anymore?
The film premiered at IDFA 2013 and was made with support from the Dutch Mediafonds and HUMAN.
Een lesbrief bij ‘Het Meisje en de Boom’ is beschikbaar via SchoolTV
More information about the film can be found here: Facebook page of Once Upon a Tree
* Winner Save the Earth! competition at the Short Shorts Film Festival Asia
* Winner Best Documentary award at the Sharjah International Children’s Film Festival
* Winner at the Winner “Best Documentary Film Editing Award” in GZDOC 2014.
* Winner ‘Best Short Film’ award at the Planet in Focus Film Festival.
* ‘Once Upon a Tree’ is selected as part of the Documentary Short Subject competition of the Camerimage Film Festival which is an ACADEMY AWARD® qualifying festival for this category.
* The short film Once Upon a Tree was given an award for Artistic Merit for director Marleen van der Werf –Hamptons International Film Festival
* Winner 2nd Best Documentary Film at the Chennai International Short Film Festival.
* Winner Wildlife Vaasa Film Festival in the category ‘Children Films’!
* Winner 2nd best short film at the Films for the forest @ SXSW
Screenings 2017:
Salt Lake City Film Society
F.A.V.E. Academy in Decatur, Georgia
KinderDocs, Greece
Screenings 2016:
‘Screm Film Fest’
Oki Doki’ Poland
Get Well Network’ – Seattle Children’s Hospital
CMS International Children’s Film Festival India
Children’s Film Festival Seattle 2016,
Bellingham Children’s Film Festival,
Washington for the Spokane Children’s Film Festival,
The Henry Art Gallery in Seattle,
Coastline Children’s Film Festival Benton Harbor,
Monterey Art & Film Festival for the Youth, Monterey,
California, Clay-Platte Montessori Children’s Film Festival,
St. Louis, Missouri, screenings in the The Rose Theatre in Port Townsend,
RINCON International Film Festival, Rincon, Puerto Rico,
Scottsdale International Film Festival
ZOOM FAMILY FILM FESTIVAL at the Wexner Center, Columbus, Ohio
Screenings 2015:
Sharjah International Children’s Film Festival
Wildlife Film Festival Rotterdam
DREFF in the Dominican Republic
Streirische Herbst festival in Austria
New Horizons International Film Festival
Short Shorts Film Festival Asia
Films Agains Gravity
Earth Day Canada
Films for the Forest @ SXSW
Chennai International Short Film Festival
Lisbon’s International Kids Film Festival
Eco Kids Film South Africa
Screenings 2014:
Courts Devant Paris
BOGOSHORTS short film competition
Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People best kids film competition
The International Short Film Festival ZUBROFFKA best kids film competition
Guangzhu International Documentary Film Festival – winner best editing
Camerimage – Poland – Short Films Competition
Doxs! Duisburger Filmwoche
28th Braunschweig International Film Festival
Uppsala International Short Film Festival
International Short Film Festival Courts Devant – Paris in competition for Best Short for Children
Cinekid – Amsterdam
Lahore International Children’s Film Festival – Pakistan
Planet in Focus Film Festival – Toronto winner best short film
Hamptons International Film Festival – Award for artistic merit
31st Tehran Short Film Festival in Iran – international competition
CineDOC-Tbilisi Georgia
Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival – nominee best short film
Wildlife Vaasa Festival Finland – winner ‘best child film’
Ekotopfilm Slovenia – International competition
CineEco Seia – Portugal – International Competition
Environmental Film Festival Melbourne
Seoul International Youth Film Festival – Finalist ‘best short film’
Shanghai International Film Festival – Finalist best short documentary
Porto7 Short Film Festival – Finalist
Busan International Kids’ Film Festival
Environmental Film Festival in Seoul, South Korea
Rooftop Film Festival, New York
Summer Shorts – Moscow
Festroia Film Festival Setubal
Kingbonn Film Festival in China – Finalist ‘best short film’ and ‘best short documentary’
2013
International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam 2013
The film is part of the EYE Dutch Shorts Selection 2013.
The idea for this film was developed in the IDFA, Mediafonds and Cinekid ‘Kids&Docs’ workshop.
Poster by Mara Vissers
The film is made with support of:
