Extended excerpt from Numen: The Nature of Plants, which screened at the 2009 Santa Fe Film Festival.
Numen: The Nature of Plants is a 95-minute documentary film focusing on the healing power of plants and the natural world. Fillmakers Terrence Youk and Ann Armbrecht traveled the U.S. to speak with doctors and herbalists, ethnobotanists and others about how our disconnection from nature affects human and environmental health, and to discover how healing is made possible by embracing our place in the wider web of life. Numen features stunning footage of medicinal plants and thought-provoking interviews advocating a re-awakening of traditional knowledge about plants and their uses. It provides viewers with a sobering view of conventional healthcare and the dangers of environmental insults as well as a new vision of safe, effective and sustainable medicine.