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 per kilogram 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. Humans continue to be stumped on how to cultivate these rare and valuable mushrooms and voices urging the U.S. Forest Service to change its fire fighting laws are growing.

Characters from Oregon and Northern California invite us into a forest, a mushroom farm and a kitchen to demonstrate what happens when we collaborate and share the greater value found right under our feet—the mushrooms that help to preserve our ecosystem and are still delicious on our plates.

Directed by CBFF alumni, Nancy Dionne.

Director Bio

Nancy Dionne is an award winning documentary filmmaker and photojournalist. She likes the adventure of taking people “to a threshold” by producing stories that create connections not yet considered. She graduated on the Deans List from the New York Film Academy in 2018 and with Honors from the San Francisco Art Institute in Photography and works full time as an AP for Transform Films in New York City and independent freelance producer and shooter.