Forest of Fantasies

On Christmas Eve, they say, the animalscan talk. Peter Rosegger, one of Austrias greatest writers, turned this legend into a magical short story about his own country childhood in Styrias Alpine uplands. Its one of Austrias most fascinating landscapes: deep, dark forests flanked by steep mountain ridges, gentle meadows reaching up to exposed summits: in limitless shades of just one color: green. Trudging through the snow to join his family for the Christmas Eve service in the valley below, ten-year-old Peter comes face to face with a young fawn in the twilight, and wonders what he could tell about growing up in the forest, with the other animals, through the seasons. This film captures the essence of Roseggers story and the subtle and dramatic changes of the Styrian forest throughout the year.