The darkly humorous 2021 Clermont-Ferrand International Competition Special Jury Prize winner pits a funeral custom against languishing olive trees.

In drought-stricken Lebanon, a professor of agriculture returns to his home village when his father dies. There, he finds himself more concerned about the state of the local olive trees – which have been infected by strange bacteria – than with the several-days-long Orthodox Christian funeral rites for his dad, to the consternation of his grieving family. Complementing its depiction of mourning and loss with sensitively handled levity, The Trees is a masterfully realised black comedy about tradition, resignation and climate change.