A Man Made Tale explores the intricate relationships within the Yatir Forest's ecosystem, serving as a political metaphor for Zionist presence in the landscape. The Yatir Forest, Israel's largest man-made forest, spans 40,000 dunams and contains about a million trees. Planted in the early 1960s, it requires ongoing reforestation due to insufficient rainfall.

The film documents human activity in the forest over the course of several seasons and observes how the pine trees live in the desert through different meteorological conditions. A distinct feeling of disorientation arises from the film, of being lost, that there is no clear way out from between the trees. Only at the end of the film is a path revealed, leading out and into the barren desert.

Photography: Ran Moncaz | Music: Gai Scherf | Editing: Thalia Hoffman

Production: Thalia Hoffman and Ezry Keidar

Supported by: Ostrovsky Family Film Fund | Mifal HaPais | Darom Film Fund