Log Head

In this mythological documentary about a human tree, experimental animator Maarit Suomi-Väänänen equips a little birch stump with a pair of skis and a balaclava, and sends it gliding through a forest where others of its kind have just been felled. Wisps of smoke and mist suggest that the executioners have only just left, but the stump appears to have revenge on its mind. Skiing, falling and skiing on again, the little guy moves among the felled trees, sometimes pausing to ponder a particular stump. Is he shedding a tear? Is this perhaps a family member who has been brought down, or is he sad because of the inevitable fate he is facing himself? Groaning, he takes flight. Against the backdrop of this forest war zone, with the sound of chainsaws and explosions, we genuinely begin to wonder whether trees deserve more sympathy. Suomi-Väänänen creates the atmosphere of a cartoon film by using marionette animation and reversing the footage. A somewhat absurdist reflection on the nature within us all.