I’ve been diving into a bunch of documentaries lately, and they’re definitely one of my go-to genres. Daughters of the Forest is a genre-bending film that includes sci-fi elements blended with documentary filmmaking. It’s not a typical film where you just see people being interviewed on camera; instead, director Otilia Portillo Padua crafts a sensory journey that’s both fascinating and a little surreal. She collaborated with a team of writers, Sheerly Avni, Greg Boustead, and Sara Dosa (who made the powerful doc Fire of Love, centered on a pair of volcanologists).

Set deep in the forests of Mexico, the film follows two Indigenous mycologists—scientists who study fungi—as they try to bridge the gap between the past and present. What’s interesting is that the film’s narrative is told from both human and nonhuman perspectives. It starts with the ‘voices’ of the fungi, almost as if they’re speaking with the audience, telling us that there’s renewal in the very death and decay that we humans are so conditioned to fear.

These voices also remind us that nature (the trees, the fungi, the living soil) is deeply intertwined with our identity and how we experience our world daily. Even though I’m not well-versed in the subject matter, I found myself completely drawn into the forest life that these women are so deeply connected to.

We meet Eliseete (Lis) and Julieta (Juli) as they navigate their everyday lives, exploring their ties to mushrooms and the challenges they encounter as Indigenous scientists. They each work on separate projects but eventually unite to exchange insights and envision how fungi could transform the future. Apparently, there’s a tuition-free postgraduate college in Texcoco, Mexico, that focuses on applied sciences like forestry, earth sciences, and mycology. Juli, a Zapotec biologist from Oaxaca in Southern Mexico, is working towards her master’s degree while also studying the medicinal and spiritual aspects of mushrooms and taking care of her baby.

We also get a glimpse of how these two young women interact with their families and their female professors, who motivate them to excel in their pursuits. They gather fungi together, which is so lovely and heartwarming to watch. I really enjoy seeing the representation of multigenerational women here, especially Lis’ vibrant grandmother, Doña Julia, who is incredibly knowledgeable about mushrooms. I had no idea there were so many different types of mushrooms, each with unique nutritional and medicinal properties.

The visuals and sound design are simply stunning and incredibly captivating. Padua collaborated with a fantastic group of photographers, led by DP Martín Boege, to bring nature to life, showcasing microphotography that reveals intricate details of these fungi, along with time-lapse videos, and more. The voices of the fungi are created by a chorus of human voices speaking Zaptec, seamlessly blended with Hannah Peel’s ethereal score.

The forests possess such enchanting qualities, and you can truly sense the deep love these women have for the environment. It’s heartbreaking to see how the logging industry is rapidly destroying what little remains of the area. We see the devastation from an overhead drone shot, and at one point, Lis takes part in a protest against deforestation.

We’ve witnessed how human arrogance and ignorance can obliterate our ecological existence, and this film powerfully illustrates the importance of nature conservation without coming off as preachy. Through moving, evocative visuals and a richly layered sound design, Padua effectively conveys that science and Indigenous knowledge are intertwined, not in opposition, but progressing together hand in hand.

I’m glad I got to see such an out-of-this-world film that’s entertaining and insightful. It premiered at SXSW back in March, where it won the Audience Award, and it’s heading to the San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM) next. I sure hope it’ll get a theatrical release soon.