THE FUTURE IS ROTTEN

A secret culture of foragers spend their lives hunting the Matsutake. Coveted in Japan for its flavor and symbolism, the treasured mushroom can bring up to $1000 kg but its true value lies underground. A genius networker and healer of ruined landscapes, the Matsutake might just be our last, best hope for an American forest system run amok.

The rare fungi appears in troubled and depleted forests, collaborating with trees to help each other grow through a mutual collaboration. Voices urging the U.S. Forest Service to change its fire fighting and logging laws are growing as we ask ourselves how to collaborate and share the greater value found right under our feet.

Director's Bio:

Nancy Dionne is an award winning documentary filmmaker and photojournalist. She likes taking people “to a threshold” by producing stories that create connections not yet considered that honor nature, music and the human spirit. She works as an AP in New York City, on special projects for the IDA, Los Angeles and is a member of the "CREATOR Program" for Yahoo!JAPAN. Her third film about music is in production called CONDUCTION.