‘One and Only Earth Film Festival’ Opening Film: “Song of the Tree”… 88-Year-Old Woman Who Cultivated a Forest That Covers 3,000 Soccer Fields

The drive of an 88-year-old scientist who built a forest the size of 3,000 soccer fields comes to the screen

A forest epic holding the lives of 1 million trees awakens Busan’s autumn night. The 5th 'One and Only Earth Film Festival' has moved to pick director Jin Jae-un’s feature-length documentary 'Song of the Tree' as this year’s opening film. The film closely follows the noble footsteps of an 88-year-old scholar who, in the Central American jungles of Nicaragua, purchased land the size of 3,000 soccer fields and restored a forest over half a century.

The protagonist at the heart of the film is a world-renowned scientist who carries the bloodline of the Joseon royal family. He devoted his life to forestation, driven by a single resolve to give the ailing Earth 'oxygen'. Beyond personal well-being, the film throws a powerful message of 'overcoming the climate crisis' beyond the screen—aimed at humanity’s survival.

One unusual element is that the director, Jin Jae-un, who holds the megaphone, currently also serves as the executive committee chair of the festival in question. On concerns about a potential conflict of interest that could arise, the festival’s secretariat drew a firm line. “We formed an independent 'external advisory body' that thoroughly excluded Chair Jin and then conducted a rigorous review,” the secretariat said, strongly demonstrating the transparency and fairness of the opening film selection process.

'Song of the Tree', which asks what tomorrow holds for Earth, makes its first appearance at next month’s Sept. 3 opening ceremony at the outdoor theater of Busan’s 'Cinema Center'. Meanwhile, the festival, now in its fifth year, cemented its status as a global environmental film festival by drawing a remarkable 2,764 entries from 148 countries worldwide. The works that cleared fierce preliminaries and secured spots in the final competition category total only 17 from 10 countries, setting the stage for a showdown among standout films carrying sharper-than-ever problem awareness.