Fungi: Web of Life
- Directed by: Gisela Kaufmann, Joseph Nizeti
- Released: 2024 (educational)
- Year of Production: 2023
Discover the mysterious world that exists between and connects all life on Earth.
All life on Earth is connected by a great mystery we are only just beginning to unravel. Hidden between the world of plants and animals, another world exists…Fungi: Web of Life. We’ll begin in the mysterious world of the forest floor, where fungi are the central players in nature’s story of birth, death, and rebirth to discover that life as we know it simply would not exist without them.
Join acclaimed British biologist, Dr. Merlin Sheldrake, on a quest to find an incredibly precious blue mushroom, against the backdrop of Tasmania’s ancient Tarkine rainforest. Merlin will show us some the grandest and strangest organisms ever discovered, showcased through jaw-dropping time-lapse cinematography, in a landscape largely unchanged from the time of the dinosaurs. Fungi have important lessons to teach humanity about survival through cooperation. Indeed, these incredible lifeforms may hold the key to solving some of humanity’s most urgent problems. With millions more species to discover, our journey into the secret world of fungi has only just begun.
Official Selection at CPH:DOX 2024
Gisela is, quite simply, a force of nature. Whether she’s working independently or as part of a production or development team, Gisela is trusted by the big names in the film production industry to manage complex creative projects with a calm authority. Gisela’s worked on many national and international productions on both sides of the table — as a commissioning editor for a national broadcaster as well as an independent producer and director. This means she has a vast network of media contacts and very practical understanding of the challenges that come with the production process.
Gisela’s reputation in the industry has led to invitations to speak at industry events, join Q&A panels and serve on juries at international film festivals.
Joseph Nizeti is an AACTA award-winning and ADG-nominated director, writer, producer and composer. Combining a background in music with a life-long love of film, Joseph has brought a unique creative perspective to a range of acclaimed projects across the Australian film & music industries. Joseph is the co-director/co-writer of award-winning feature documentary River (2021), writer/director of the Björk-narrated IMAX documentary Fungi: The Web of Life (2023), co-writer of Netflix’s ONEFOUR: Against All Odds (2023), writer/director/composer of TV documentary Anatomy of a String Quartet (2022) and co-producer of science documentary series Phenomena (2021). Beginning in late-2022, Joseph founded new production company Cosmic Breakfast to service a growing slate of unique documentary and scripted projects. Cosmic Breakfast’s first production, Chasing the Last Giants, is a feature documentary following the campaign to protect lutriwita/Tasmania’s native giant trees from deforestation.
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