TWIG is a meditative reflection on the unexpected poetry of our changing planet.

This short documentary follows one man’s journey to combat desertification in China through afforestation – planting trees where there were none before. Since his time as South Korean ambassador to China, Kwon Byong-Hyon has been obsessed with halting the dust storms from China that infiltrate his native air in South Korea each Spring. Yellow dust whips up into gigantic dust storms in the deserts of Western China and travels thousands of kilometres over rural China, through Beijing and across the Yellow Sea, with no respect for sovereign borders.

Despite his tireless drive to plant trees, Ambassador Kwon is met with many obstacles: his own waning health, conflict with his son who he is trying to train to take over the operation, and ever looming dust storms that counteract everything he’s working for.

The tree planting effort is grandiose and the results are impressive: long rows of green trees growing amid the yellow dunes. As the winds whip up the desert’s surface into sandstorms and Kwon’s freshly planted trees begin to disappear in the yellow winds, we are left to wonder: are these unlikely forests up to the task?