You’re invited to the U.S. premiere of the documentary Judi Dench: My Passion for Trees on Wednesday, March 4, at the Avon Theatre in Stamford.
Come see Dench in an intimate and fascinating BBC production on the secret lives of trees. Dame Judi Dench is one of Britain’s best-loved actresses, but few people know that she holds another great passion, a deep love for trees.
Image from the BBC
Judi Dench in the BBC documentary, \”My Passion for Trees\”
Filmed over the course of a year, Dench joins tree scientists and historians to discover how trees feel, communicate, fight off invading armies and manage in extreme weather.
The event at the Avon, at 272 Bedford St. starts with a 6:45 p.m. reception, followed by the 55-minute film, and then a question and answer session with Todd Forrest, vice president for horticulture and living collections at the New York Botanical Garden.
The Greenwich Tree Conservancy is co-presenting the event.
The Documentary
The documentary is a study of the changing seasons and their effect on Surrey, the most-wooded county in Britain. Dench joins tree scientists and historians to unlock the remarkable secret lives of trees.
With scientific techniques and equipment at her disposal, she shows how trees work and helps viewers gain an insight into their secrets. Judi discovers how trees feel, learns how they communicate and how they fight off invading armies and extreme weather.
From NASA satellite imagery, Dench is shown just how effective trees are as carbon capture machines that are fighting to protect our planet. It is confirmation that trees aren’t just trees, they are a real community that help each other, humans and the planet.
About Todd Forrest
Todd Forrest is Arthur Ross Vice President for Horticulture and Living Collections at The New York Botanical Garden. He oversees the team of managers, horticulturists, and curators who steward the Garden’s plant collections, gardens, and glasshouses and develop its celebrated horticulture exhibitions.
An advocate for historic trees and forests in urban landscapes and public gardens, Forrest contributed essays to The Magnificent Trees of The New York Botanical Garden, The Trees of North America: Michaux and Redoute’s American Masterpiece, and Ancient Trees: Portraits of Time.
He joined The New York Botanical Garden in 1998 as a research assistant in the Institute of Economic Botany before becoming Curator of Woody Plants in 1999.
Previously, Forrest worked at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. He received a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from Wesleyan University and a Master of Forest Science from Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
— This article, adapted here, previously was published by GreenwichFreePress.com.