“Teaching is the profession that makes every other profession possible” – these words adorn many a classroom wall, or are often repeated by educators in moments of self-doubt when they need a boost of confidence to know what they are doing is not only valuable but entirely essential. Maren Ade seems to have a true fondness for the art of teaching, and considering both of her parents worked in education, she grew up in an environment where she gained a vast amount of respect for those hardworking individuals who dedicated their lives to shaping the minds of future generations. This is clear in a film she made as a thesis for film school, which was also coincidentally her directorial debut, the wonderful and eccentric drama The Forest for the Trees (German: Der Wald vor lauter Bäumen), which follows the increasingly challenging exploits of a dedicated young teacher in a small town in pastoral Germany as she navigates both professional and personal obstacles, all of which seem to stand in her way of becoming the teacher she knows she is capable of being, but which others are far more cynical about acknowledging. A fascinating character study about humanity in its purest, undistilled but deeply unnerving form, and a film that balances humour and pathos in a way that is incredibly inventive but still very traditional. Ade, who is undeniably one of the most brilliant artistic voices of her generation (despite having only helmed three feature-length films – but to her credit, anyone who makes a film as exceptional as Toni Erdmann carries perpetual cultural cache), takes a very simple premise and crafts a memorable story of individuality and identity out of its smallest details, which creates a mesmerizing examination of humanity through the eyes of someone who always saw the best in it, but struggled to believe it after a while, as a result of the challenges she encounters while simply trying to make the world a better place, one student at a time.

The Forest for the Trees is a debut film, and while we have gotten to a point where many contemporary filmmakers have access to high-quality resources, so much so that their debuts feel as professional and polished as those made by seasoned veterans. However, Ade was neither working with anything more than a shoestring budget nor did she have the intention of making a film that gave off the illusion of being a professional production. Initially nothing more than a college assignment that has infiltrated into the culture based on its brilliance as an artwork on its own, this film is a fascinating document of her early style and ideas, condensed into a well-crafted drama that may look like it was made by an amateur, but certainly makes up for its limited resources with pure conviction and strong storytelling. There is something so profound about how this film approaches its ideas through this gritty, almost unsettling style – the cheap digital video adds charm to the proceedings since it draws on the fact that this is essentially a social realist film, a simple story of a young woman seeking her individuality in a place that is not always receptive to her efforts, which only complicates her own life as she examines her place in the world. Realism is not always comforting, and there doesn’t need to be frequent attempts to draw our attention to its forced simplicity – instead, Ade makes use of the limitations that affected this film in creative ways, handcrafting a very charming drama that is never overly ambitious or ostentatious, but instead exists as a solid, well-crafted piece of experimental cinema that knows how to capture the vibrant details that linger beneath the surface, as well as every emotion that could not be outwardly stated, but were deeply embedded right at the heart of the film.

This film is primarily centred on the story of a teacher, but it is so much more than just an examination of her struggles to educate her students. Anyone who has ever worked in any form of teaching will recognize many of the details that Ade brings to The Forest for the Trees, almost to the point where it becomes uncomfortable to witness precisely how far she is willing to take this material before allowing it to move on from deeply unsettling depictions of bad behaviour within classrooms, which are not viewed as humorous, immature antics, but rather systemic issues that come with the modern state of education. These concepts are all embedded in this film, but what makes the story so much more engaging are those more understated details. Right at the centre of The Forest for the Trees we have a protagonist who is quite simply defined by the quality of doing her best, regardless of the punishment or reward that awaits her on the other side, taking her responsibilities as a teacher so seriously, they are what eventually leads to her breakdown and downfall, since she fails to develop the ability to handle the more challenging side of her profession. Ade very smartly never proposes that the character of Melanie is someone worthy of adulation and acclaim and that she is simply nothing more than one of the many hard-working teachers who find their job isn’t only about imparting knowledge, but developing the minds of the future generation. As a result, we find this film to be quite invested in exploring the theme of identity – whether it be Melanie herself, or the students with whom she has interactions, the story is constructed around exploring their inner lives. The Forest for the Trees is essentially a film made up of fragments in the life of the main character, who works tirelessly to make sure that she is doing whatever she can to prepare her students for the future, not realizing that she is learning herself every day, her experiences forming the bedrock of this film, which is as invested in her journey as it is in her experiences teaching these students, all of which form the foundation of the film, which is mainly about identity and the lengths to which one usually has to go to feel comfortable in embracing their inner quandaries.

Much like Ade, Eva Löbau was a young actor with seemingly very little experience, and who seemed to harbour enough of a friendship with the director to play the central part in her debut film. The role of Melanie is not particularly easy to play – she is a character with good intentions trapped in a world that has never understood her, and likely never will, leading her to gradually fall apart at the seams, all the while doing her best to maintain the facade that she is dedicated to her vocation and has her students’ best interests at heart. There seems to be a portion of the film where this is true, and she is the embodiment of a hard-working teacher whose entire career and suitability for this line of work are called into question by both her colleagues and herself. The major difference is that being doubted by your peers can motivate one to prove them wrong, but self-doubt can be a truly destructive force that can cause even the most dedicated of educators to lose the spark that inspired them to become teachers in the first place. Löbau is fantastic in the part – much like the film that surrounds her, her performance is raw and rough around the edges, but therein lies most of the charm, since it is such an unfiltered, honest portrayal of someone genuinely trying to make a career out of her passion, but gradually finds herself receiving far too much criticism and disdain to maintain that confidence, and where the forces in her personal life prove to be just as challenging for her confidence. The film revolves around Löbau’s performance, but she is supported by Daniela Holtz and Jan Neumann, who offer fantastic supplementary performances that feel rich and evocative, especially in terms of how they contribute to the narrative and offer further insights into this well-constructed and very meaningful demonstration of a character who is doing her best, but finds herself essentially fighting a losing battle, both with her colleagues and her psychological insecurity.

The Forest for the Trees is a profoundly simple film – it delivers on exactly the premise it offers at the start, and while there are a few moments of abstraction, it is an otherwise straightforward film that successfully portrays itself as a detailed, meaningful examination of the human condition as seen through the perspective of someone struggling with her own identity, and whose confidence in her skills (which are objectively noble and authentic) begins to erode as she learns about the vicious realities that life has been hiding from her previously. It is a challenging film, and it also turns out to be quite a dour affair, with the more lighthearted tone of the first act steadily disappearing as the film progresses and we start to see the smaller details lingering beneath the surface, which essentially are the components that drive this film and make it so captivating, but also quite difficult. The raw performances and the very gritty style contribute to the social realist aspects, and we constantly feel the sensation that there is nowhere to hide within this film, since everything is delivered with an almost brutal, heartwrenching honesty that is confrontational and extremely harsh, but also essential, since there is an underlying meaning that drives this film and makes it so worthwhile. Ade is one of our great contemporary voices, and even with the small handful of films she has directed, she’s established herself as an essential artist, with The Forest for the Trees being the start of a very strong career, and one that has never been afraid to reflect some of the more challenging aspects of everyday life, finding the wit and nuance in even the most difficult of circumstances.