’Forest High’ Charms Berlinale Audience as Director Manon Coubia Talks Small Budgets, Timeless Landscapes

“Nothing ever happens by chance,” Alpine hut guardian Suzanne (Anne Coesens) tells her guest (Yoann Zimmer) as they both share the journeys that led them to the remote setting of “Forest High” (“Forêt Ivre”), Manon Coubia’s feature debut as a director, premiering at the Berlinale.

It so happens that the Belgian director speaking with Variety ahead of Berlinale, used the very same turn of phrase to describe the path that led her to this cinematic endeavor, in which she brings together three women who have made the choice to withdraw from the world for a season as a hut warden.

Through three stories connected by this hut, Coubia unveils three skilfully crafted characters. Each of them harbors a secret; and each of them is put to the test by their chosen solitude.

As Anne (Richard), Hélène (Petit) and Suzanne take turns looking after the hut, hikers come and go,…