Last week I saw the award winning documentary “If a Tree Falls.” This film, directed by Marshall Curry, tells the story of the activist group ELF, or Earth Liberation Front and their means of protesting. The story follows one of the members of ELF and his awaiting his trial. By doing this, the audience is able to see not only what happened, but also how it is being handled in the present situation.  Throughout the whole film, suspense is building as it gets closer and closer to the day of his trial and his punishment will be decided. By doing this, the audience can see the side of the cops as well who are working on the trial. While it would have been easy to focus on one side of the story, Curry brought in members of both sides as well as locals to the area to discuss exactly what was going on. Showing both sides leaves more room for questions.

One major issue in the film was the idea of whether or not the group should be called a terrorist group. While I can understand where the government could see this as being terrorism, I was shocked that this was even a relative question. To me, it only seemed to be that they were trying to fight for what they thought was right. They had learned from years of peaceful protest that that would not get the attention they needed. Although they maybe did not approach it the best possible way, both sides are understandable.

One vivid scene I remember was towards the end of the movie. There was a shot of a forest on a mountain and there were just sides of the forest gone. This image really caught my attention when I realized exactly what these people were fighting for. I really enjoyed this documentary because I learned so much from it. I thought it was very interesting how it showed both the sides of the story and allowed us to make our own decisions and opinions on the issue. I also liked how the story followed a specific person who was in the group and his journey through this time.