Logline

An unruly odyssey of art, activism, performance and ritual exploring the rise of the enigmatic Green Man in our collective consciousness. where the green man goes is a spirited reflection on our relationship with nature, national identity, environmental action, and the enduring power of folklore.⁠

Synopsis

the danse of the green man is an unruly, joyful, shape-shifting odyssey across the British Isles, guided by the presence of the enigmatic Green Man – the supposedly ancient spirit that binds people to the land, the seasons and each other. As we drift across moors, forests, coastlines and city edgelands, the film encounters the individuals and communities who summon the Green Man into being through ritual, costume, music, dance, art and activism.

From wild storytellers and modern mummers to queer folk performers, Morris dancers, masked processions and ecstatic calendar customs, each encounter reveals a different face of the Green Man – joyous, chaotic, defiant, tender, untamed. These gatherings, both ancient and newly invented, form a living map of a culture rediscovering the power of communal ritual in an age of fragmentation.

As landscapes shift from ancient woodlands to windswept ridgelines, from misty estuaries to post-industrial edges, the journey becomes a meditation on why this figure is rising again now.

The film explores deeper questions that surface along the way: what draws people back to myth and ritual in times of uncertainty? Why do we still seek meaning in the rhythms of nature? And what does the Green Man offer a society hungry for connection, wonder and a sense of belonging beyond the digital world?

A sensory, cinematic path-movie through myth and modern Britain, the danse of the green man reveals a country where folklore isn’t a relic, but a resurgent pulse. A force that invites us to step off the path, into the undergrowth, and listen.

The film is in post-production for completion in 2026.

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