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FOLLOW THE RAIN... launches worldwide in March 2024. New feature-length documentary from world famous fungi hunters, takes us on a magical journey into the weird and wonderful world of fungi. For media and screening enquiries contact Planet Fungi Stay updated on screening opportunities near you Subscribe to our newsletter THE STORY OF FOLLOW THE RAIN In an endangered forest in Australia, fungi hunter and acclaimed fungi photographer Stephen Axford, spies an intriguing frosty blue mushroom. He discovers it has no name. No one knows where it fits in the Kingdom of Fungi. He is the first to document it for science. Turns out this mushroom is one of the two million – twelve million species of fungus that scientists think could exist but have not yet been identified. The science of fungi has been a neglected frontier of discovery. Today there is a mass myco-awakening and the race is on to document as many species of fungi as possible, as fast as possible. At the forefront of this push internationally are Stephen Axford, and his partner in life and all things fungi, filmmaker Catherine Marciniak. In Follow the Rain their latest documentary they invite us into their fungi obsessed world. They share their fungal finds in some of the most stunning wild landscapes of Australia –tropical islands, ancient rainforests, the hostile majesty of the desert. We discover with them the creepiness of zombie fungi and the wonder of the Australian ghost fungus. They take us behind the scenes into their fungarium, revealing what they observe as they record the life and death of mushrooms and mycelium growing in spellbinding time-lapses. They meet mycologists who are revealing mind-expanding science. And they unearth new and charismatic species. The evocative score by composers Romano Crivici and Carla Thackrah layers the story with magical fragile harmonies and powerful rhythms, creating a vast primal soundscape. Visually captivating, a symphonic treat and incredibly entertaining, Follow the Rain is an exploration of the world of fungi the like of which we have never seen. It combines a decade of research and passion, magnificent fungi time-lapses and footage, and the most incredible fungal stories. APPEAL OF FOLLOW THE RAIN Interest in fungi is mushrooming, and this fungus obsessed duo have contributed significantly to growing that international attention. Stephen and Catherine are constantly invited to document fungi in unchartered and remote forests across the planet. They have run fungi photography and citizen science workshops in Australia, South America and across Asia. Global audiences have seen their time-lapse creations in Planet Earth 2, the popular Netflix documentary Fantastic Fungi, the BBC’s “Our Planet” and “Green Planet”, National Geographic’s “Hostile Planet”, the ABC’s “Australian Odyssey”, Curiosity Channel’s “The Kingdom”, Sky Nature’s “Islands” and the IMAX documentary “FUNGI-web of life”, to name a few. Their own fungi films have screened in international festivals and on numerous streaming platforms. Stephen's macro photographs have been published in international nature journals and books, including the illustrated version of the New York Times fungi bestseller “Entangled Life” by Merlin Sheldrake. Their work is showcased in permanent exhibitions in Questacon - National Science and Technology Centre Australia, Museum of Nature Protection and Speleology Slovakia, Museo Interactivo Mirador Santiago Chile, and in a dome exhibition at the Indianapolis Zoo. Planet Fungi is an international partner of the Fungi Foundation and the 3Fs campaign – Flora, Fauna and Funga, that seeks to elevate the status of fungi within the realm of conservation and environmental protection. For media and screening enquiries contact Planet Fungi
