Holy Wood

The film illustrates the philosophy of “giving back” to nature, and documents the pinugo, the unique system of sustainable land cultivation developed by the Ifugao to take equal account of forest management and rice growing.This diary film also turns into a travelogue when a group of woodcarvers embark on a trip to Japan to the Takedera temple where they transform a 250-year-old tree, which had been struck by a lightning bolt, into a totem pole.