From 1986 to 2004, an elderly Black land surveyor planted over 140,000 mahogany trees in Belize. Returning to the forest, now in the heart of a global conser- vation area, his descendants explore liberation through an inheritance of land, plunder and loss.
FAIRWEATHER WILDS
As a child, a filmmaker traveled to the mahogany plantation that her grandfather, “Pa Hen,” or Henry Fairweather, had established between the ages of 76 and 96 in Belize. With a vision to restore the value of the rainforests for Belizeans, the notable Black land surveyor and town planner planted over 140,000 mahogany trees on this 350-acre plot of land. The tree-planting feat was self-financed and fueled by daily toil in the harsh forest conditions. 20 years later, with financial and ecological risks increasing, the land remains unfinished business.
Pa Hen worked the swamp, river, jungle, and mountains as a land surveyor. In the late 1970s, then in his late 70’s, embarked on the most ambitious task of his life: to reforest 350 acres of endangered rainforest with mahogany trees. Together with a few employees he methodically planted seedlings and cultivated the saplings. When fire and insects devoured thousands of trees, he replanted them. Flouting the confines of age and proving the benefits of the minimalist lifestyle, he lived for weeks at a time in a shelled-out school bus with his basic comforts—a burner, tea, a chair, books, and a mattress—the familiar sounds of the forest, Bach and Beethoven music, and the BBC World Service on his shortwave radio.
But today, this incredible feat feels like a myth that only a few can remember. In 2023, the filmmaker travels back to Belize and begins to unravel an unknown family heritage of deep connections to land stewardship.
Cinematographer - Cybel Martin
