Antoinette Wilson - Fools and Dreamers co-director's exclusive interview

Wilson: We immediately fell in love with the two-fold story we encountered at Hinewai Reserve. First, the practice of letting nature do the hard work of forest regeneration, rather than fighting with nature to get things done "the human way". This profound respect for nature moved us, and the specifics of the story truly inspired us. Second, the manager of the reserve, Hugh Wilson, is a very special botanist-conservationist, not just because of his approach to regeneration, but because his profound commitment to healing and working alongside nature is also apparent in his personal life. Among many awesome choices he's made, he hasn't owned or even been in a car for over 40 years because he could see way back then the effect of fossil fuel use on the planet. He's a beautiful, inspiring and gentle person and was a joy to film with!

Wilson: My favourite scene is not actually about the forest itself, but a funny moment we captured with Hugh after he agreed to play the piano for us on camera. He played a complex piece of music up to the point where it gets "a bit difficult" and stopped. The camera caught him laughing at himself in a way that I think captures his personality perfectly. It makes me laugh along with him every time!

Wilson: Hugh was a bit reluctant at first. He's very humble and doesn't like to take the credit for nature's work and the combined effort of all the folk working alongside him. He loved the idea of sharing the story but didn't want it to be all about him. Finally we were able to convince him that an engaging character telling the story of the reserve would be the best way to draw our audience in and make them see what is remarkable about the reserve. Thankfully he could see our point and agreed to share not just the reserve's story but his own. We think Hugh 'makes' this film and we've found that our audience agrees – comments almost invariably focus on what an inspiring and beautiful person he is.

Wilson: Here are some comments from our YouTube channel: "Hugh Wilson and his ilk are the true heroes and warriors of our time." "This man is a gift and a treasure. I adore his smile and energy. Thank you for spotlighting him and his work!" "What an amazing person... Seeing people like him restores my faith in humanity." "What a beautiful, intelligent, forward thinking soul. I adore him." "Speechless...Hugh Wilson's commitment, love for mother nature and simplicity have mesmerised me." "Stamina, vision, persistence, wisdom. The long game. Utterly inspiring." "Hugh's story and life warmed my heart!" "He is a national treasure!"

Wilson: We're planning to spend 2020 focusing on releasing more short films to our YouTube channel, where we have over 100,000 subscribers, some of whom get a bit impatient if we're silent for too long! While we absolutely loved the experience of making this bigger-budget, longer film, we also really love the low-stress, low-budget short films that see us meeting loads of new, inspiring individuals and allow us to share many more stories in the same time frame that longer films require. No matter their length though, our films will continue to tell solutions-focused stories about what Charles Eisenstein calls "the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible".