WILDING

UK, 2023, 75 minutes, Colour.

Directed by David Allen.

To complement David Attenborough's Ocean, there is another British documentary, Wilding, which is solidly land and Earth-based. It is based on a book by Isabella Tree, an environmental story, an experiment, over more than 15 years in south-eastern England. While there is some footage of the actual environmentalists, actors portray the couple in the present, presenting a first-person commentary on the Wilding, re-Wilding of their property.

The film focuses on a couple inheriting a country estate, practically a castle, and wider grounds. However, they discover the earth is tired, making the point that when soil loses its nutrients, it becomes merely, dirt. With reference to a number of experimenters on revitalising earth and soil, they begin an experiment, with some hostile reactions from neighbours, with slow evaluation and cooperation by government authorities.

The advice they receive is to introduce some wild horses, other animals, revitalising the life of trees, waterways (especially with extraordinary beavers), over long years with hopes and disappointments, the revitalising of flora and fauna, the return of so many animals and birds, returning landscapes to what they were like hundred years ago. It is visually exciting as well as encouraging.