Wood

About half of all Romanian trees are felled illegally. And this is only the tip of the iceberg, because in Peru, in the Russian taiga and in China, the situation looks equally drastic. But where does all this wood end up? And who is making money from it? The non-profit organisation “Environmental Investigation Agency” (EIA) is on the trail of the string pullers. Spearhead and director Alexander von Bismarck goes undercover to investigate the profiteers of illegal logging. He knows the situation has become more dramatic in recent years: foresters are being murdered, politicians poisoned. Together with his international team, he infiltrates large companies around the globe to document how wood felled without permission is processed and sold. The investigative documentary Wood accompanies the EIA and uses hidden cameras and microphones to record business talks. Unscrupulous syndicates that clear entire forests are exposed in the style of an environmental crime thriller. (Zurich Film Festival)