A Thousand Pines

(Sebastian Diaz Aguirre, Noam Osband, US 2023, 77 min., DCP, Spanish and English with English subtitles)

This impressive documentary follows a crew of twelve Oaxacan guest workers doing the back-breaking work of planting commercial pine forests throughout the United States for over eight months for one of the country’s biggest forestry companies.  Using a method that this company boasts “allows a worker to plant trees almost as fast as he can walk,” each worker is expected to plant thousands of pine seedlings a day while living cheek by jowl in cheap motels.  Their pay, while low here, provides a better life for their families back home in rural Mexico, but the toll on workers’ physical and mental wellbeing is poignantly revealed.