Unthinkable Films

“Unthinkable Films” draws together UW faculty members to develop short documentary films that speak and theorize our planet’s cataclysmic, unpredictable, or unprecedented future.  This project launches with visual translation workshops on turning text-based humanistic scholarship into compelling visual and digital forms, followed by preliminary work on the pilot film in the series.

"The Detective" (below) is a short film from Daniel Hoffman and Lynn M. Thomas. Long regarded as a nuisance tree by Pacific Northwest loggers, Big Leaf Maples are now being poached from public lands. The wood in a small fraction of these mossy giants is figured, or beautifully patterned in ways coveted by guitar makers and musicians. Forester John Keller is helping land managers identify these rare trees before they disappear.

*Access copy of video description coming soon. 

*postponed due to covid, initially proposed for 2019-2020