Julia Butterfly Hill sat 180 feet above the earth in a one thousand year old tree for two years, preventing a hillside from being clearcut. She survived 90 mile per hour winds, bitter cold, and the many attempts by the representatives of Pacific Lumber Co. to bring her down. Considered by some to be a sage, and others to be a nut, there is no doubt that she made a difference and achieved something both dramatically public and intimately personal. Wolens’ interviews over two years, including six nights of collecting breathtaking POV shots with Hill on her 180-foot high platform, reveal an intensely spiritual and articulate woman determined to accomplish her goal. We get a sense of the awesome beauty of her days and nights lived in the ancient tree, of the horror of being assaulted by lumber company helicopters, and of the strangeness of fierce media scrutiny seeking out a woman in a tree. Directed by Doug Wolens, USA, 2000, 80 min.

Cosponsored with the Department of Religion, Syracuse University.