Of all the films that I have seen so far at the Femme Filmmakers Festival, none have resonated more with urgency as Twig. This film was directed and brilliantly shot by Claire Sanford, whom I tip my hat to for creating a stirring call to action for anyone concerned by climate change but feels helpless to stem the damage caused.
Former Ambassador Kwon Byong Hyon, aka “The Grandfather Who Plants Trees” is an astonishingly inspiring man who deserves not only this film, but a full-length feature, and a mini-series, and then a few industry awards as well. He has taken it upon himself at a time when many would retire and rest on the laurels of their achievements to create a movement that will surely last beyond his own lifetime.
The crisis of desertification and its horrific impact on the quality of life both in China and South Korea is shown as the driving motivation for Ambassador Kwon organizing his reforestation program to reclaim and most importantly, retain the soil of the desert of Inner Mongolia. The sand of this desert travels to Beijing in China and Seoul in South Korea with devastating effects on the health of the populations in both. Ambassador Kwon has inspired many young volunteers to join him in planted trees in the desert, even though it is suggested that the desert is winning by spreading faster than his program can work.
This film then is a call to the rest of the world to join in on Kwon’s mission to “save the Earth.” As he happily says, many called him “Idiot Ambassador Kwon” and then counters with, “sometimes the idiot does the work.” May we all be so idiotically inspired to action as this wonderful gentleman.
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