Songs from the Forest

There’s no progress without CHANGE... but not all change is PROGRESS.

Ancient Jiwo sits in harmony with nature. Many of its people are part-animal. The tyrant Tang Laotuo and his son Tang Tong shatter its peace by plundering the forest. Meanwhile Mei Di- a hedgehog-woman, and Liao Mai- an idealist- fall in love, but their plans are imperilled by a jealous Tang Tong and his expanding industrial empire.

Since ancient times, Jiwo village and its forests have been a sanctuary. Man, beast and those somewhere in between live in harmony, all part of a timeless chorus, until one day a discordant note strikes with the emergence of the tyrant Tang Laotuo and his son Tang Tong, stripping the land bare to feed their expanding industrial empire.

Among the natives in the spreading dusty haze is the beautiful hedgehog spirit Mei Di, and her headstrong husband Liao Mai. Their home is a rural utopia threatened by the foul noise and smoke belching from the Tang’s factories.

As the bulldozers rumble ever closer, the change not only strains the lovers’ relationship but also puts Jiwo’s age-old balance in jeopardy. A reckoning will surely come one day, and as silence falls, will anyone still remember the old songs?