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Fantastic Fungi

Fantastic Fungi is a descriptive time-lapse journey about the magical, mysterious and medicinal world of fungi and their power to heal, sustain and contribute to the regeneration of life on Earth that began 3.5 billion years ago.

Director

Louie Schwartzberg

Year

Genre

Box Office

$1,788,322

Production

Artemis Rising,Diamond Docs,Moving Art

Awards

1 nomination

Homepage

https://movingart.com/fantastic-fungi/

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Narrator (voice)

Self

Self

Self

Self

Self

Self

Self

Self

Self

Roland Griffiths

Self

Self

Self

Self

Self

Self

Self (as Dennis McKenna)

Dennis J. McKenna

Self

Mary P. Cosimano

Self

Self

Self

Self

Self

Self (as Nicholas Cossi)

Nicholas V. Cozzi

Self (as Tony Head)

Self

Patricia Stamets

Self

Self

William Padilla-Brown

Self (archive footage)

Self (archive footage)

Self (archive footage)

View All Cast

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Explore 480 Clips

You can't see us, - Fantastic Fungi

You can't see us,

And even inside you, - Fantastic Fungi

And even inside you,

From your first breath
to your last, - Fantastic Fungi

From your first breath to your last,

We are the largest
and smallest. - Fantastic Fungi

We are the largest and smallest.

We are the wisdom
of a billion years. - Fantastic Fungi

We are the wisdom of a billion years.

We are resurrection, - Fantastic Fungi

We are resurrection,

We are mushrooms. - Fantastic Fungi

We are mushrooms.

Mushrooms are very clandestine
and very much the trickster. - Fantastic Fungi

Mushrooms are very clandestine and very much the trickster.

It's always interesting - Fantastic Fungi

It's always interesting

Now, what does that mean?
Well, - Fantastic Fungi

Now, what does that mean? Well,

I haven't peeked yet, - Fantastic Fungi

I haven't peeked yet,

If I was laying down
on the ground and I died, - Fantastic Fungi

If I was laying down on the ground and I died,

Mushrooms represent rebirth, - Fantastic Fungi

Mushrooms represent rebirth,

Fungi generate soil
that gives life. - Fantastic Fungi

Fungi generate soil that gives life.

The task that we face today - Fantastic Fungi

The task that we face today

My mission is to discover the language
of nature of the fungal networks - Fantastic Fungi

My mission is to discover the language of nature of the fung...

The fact that we lack the language skills to communicate with nature - Fantastic Fungi

The fact that we lack the language skills to communicate...

If we don't get our act together and
come in commonality and understanding - Fantastic Fungi

If we don't get our act together and come in commonalit...

Mushroom.
It's not like a vegetable, - Fantastic Fungi

Mushroom. It's not like a vegetable,

The fungus is
its own kingdom altogether. - Fantastic Fungi

The fungus is its own kingdom altogether.

There's over
1.5 million species. - Fantastic Fungi

There's over 1.5 million species.

Of all those species
of fungi, - Fantastic Fungi

Of all those species of fungi,

A lot of people are afraid
of mushrooms. - Fantastic Fungi

A lot of people are afraid of mushrooms.

People associate mushrooms
and fungi... you know, mold... - Fantastic Fungi

People associate mushrooms and fungi... you know, mold...

You know,
there's a lot of fear - Fantastic Fungi

You know, there's a lot of fear

They decompose
dead and dying organisms - Fantastic Fungi

They decompose dead and dying organisms

They kind of are
at the very end of stuff, - Fantastic Fungi

They kind of are at the very end of stuff,

A really important difference
between plants and fungi - Fantastic Fungi

A really important difference between plants and fungi

When a tomato gets red, - Fantastic Fungi

When a tomato gets red,

They're doing their own thing,
and a lot of them are hiding. - Fantastic Fungi

They're doing their own thing, and a lot of them are hi...

Every time you pick up
a mushroom, - Fantastic Fungi

Every time you pick up a mushroom,

And that's one
of the reasons why - Fantastic Fungi

And that's one of the reasons why

There are some that'll take out
your liver or your kidneys, - Fantastic Fungi

There are some that'll take out your liver or your kidn...

There's a huge subculture
of mycophiles, - Fantastic Fungi

There's a huge subculture of mycophiles,

They hunt mushrooms together,
and they eat mushrooms together, - Fantastic Fungi

They hunt mushrooms together, and they eat mushrooms togethe...

So I started attending
these festivals and forays - Fantastic Fungi

So I started attending these festivals and forays

It changed the way
I saw everything. - Fantastic Fungi

It changed the way I saw everything.

Mushrooms actually
were the window by which - Fantastic Fungi

Mushrooms actually were the window by which

If we didn't have fungi, - Fantastic Fungi

If we didn't have fungi,

They break down plant life
and make it usable - Fantastic Fungi

They break down plant life and make it usable

They are the digestive
tracts of the forest. - Fantastic Fungi

They are the digestive tracts of the forest.

One of the lifestyles of fungi
is as decomposers, - Fantastic Fungi

One of the lifestyles of fungi is as decomposers,

The yeasts and molds used in
making beer and wine and cheese - Fantastic Fungi

The yeasts and molds used in making beer and wine and cheese

That's actually
a penicillin mold - Fantastic Fungi

That's actually a penicillin mold

But this ability
to break things down - Fantastic Fungi

But this ability to break things down

These rotters, - Fantastic Fungi

Anything
that's hydrocarbon-based, - Fantastic Fungi

Anything that's hydrocarbon-based,

There were four piles saturated
with diesel - Fantastic Fungi

There were four piles saturated with diesel

One was a control pile, - Fantastic Fungi

One was a control pile,

The fungi absorbs the oil, - Fantastic Fungi

The fungi absorbs the oil,

And then when we returned
six weeks later, - Fantastic Fungi

And then when we returned six weeks later,

It was covered with hundreds
of pounds - Fantastic Fungi

It was covered with hundreds of pounds

They were very large, - Fantastic Fungi

They were very large,

But something else happened,
which was an epiphany in my life. - Fantastic Fungi

But something else happened, which was an epiphany in my lif...

Birds then came,
bringing in seeds, - Fantastic Fungi

Birds then came, bringing in seeds,

Mushrooms are
the fruiting bodies of fungi. - Fantastic Fungi

Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of fungi.

The bulk of the organism
is growing underground - Fantastic Fungi

The bulk of the organism is growing underground

And that mass of threads
is called a mycelium. - Fantastic Fungi

And that mass of threads is called a mycelium.

A mycelium has more networks - Fantastic Fungi

A mycelium has more networks

Just to give you an idea of how
much fungi are in the forest, - Fantastic Fungi

Just to give you an idea of how much fungi are in the forest...

It's like a big web just growing
through the forest. - Fantastic Fungi

It's like a big web just growing through the forest.

Mycelium that can grow out
even just this big - Fantastic Fungi

Mycelium that can grow out even just this big

Trees are communicating,
using the mycelium as pathways. - Fantastic Fungi

Trees are communicating, using the mycelium as pathways.

In other words, one tree can
swap nutrients with another tree, - Fantastic Fungi

In other words, one tree can swap nutrients with another tre...

So we often think of kin
recognition as an animal behavior. - Fantastic Fungi

So we often think of kin recognition as an animal behavior.

Well, we never thought
that plants could do that, - Fantastic Fungi

Well, we never thought that plants could do that,

So these mother trees
recognize their kin - Fantastic Fungi

So these mother trees recognize their kin

The mother tree and the baby
seedlings are sending signals, - Fantastic Fungi

The mother tree and the baby seedlings are sending signals,

When they're connected
together - Fantastic Fungi

When they're connected together

If she knows that there's pests
around, and that she's under danger, - Fantastic Fungi

If she knows that there's pests around, and that she�...

I do hug trees occasionally.
I do confess to that, - Fantastic Fungi

I do hug trees occasionally. I do confess to that,

Damn, we got a two-for-one
on that one. - Fantastic Fungi

Damn, we got a two-for-one on that one.

Cutting down these trees
and we're going to let them rot, - Fantastic Fungi

Cutting down these trees and we're going to let them ro...

We're letting them rot
with shiitake mushrooms, - Fantastic Fungi

We're letting them rot with shiitake mushrooms,

September of '74, - Fantastic Fungi

September of '74,

I went up to visit him
one weekend, - Fantastic Fungi

I went up to visit him one weekend,

He says, "What are those?" - Fantastic Fungi

He says, "What are those?"

These are old red belted
polypores. - Fantastic Fungi

These are old red belted polypores.

This is a delicious
shrimp russula mushroom, - Fantastic Fungi

This is a delicious shrimp russula mushroom,

It's rare in science
you have such powerful amateurs. - Fantastic Fungi

It's rare in science you have such powerful amateurs.

The meaning of the word
"amateur" is a lover, - Fantastic Fungi

The meaning of the word "amateur" is a lover,

And he's proven that amateurs can
do credible, important research. - Fantastic Fungi

And he's proven that amateurs can do credible, importan...

The 19th century obviously, - Fantastic Fungi

The 19th century obviously,

He's handed over
to this universal consciousness. - Fantastic Fungi

He's handed over to this universal consciousness.

Every magnificent thing - Fantastic Fungi

Every magnificent thing

I grew up in a
small town called Columbiana, Ohio. - Fantastic Fungi

I grew up in a small town called Columbiana, Ohio.

And my brother John
went to Yale, - Fantastic Fungi

And my brother John went to Yale,

But I had
a severe stuttering habit - Fantastic Fungi

But I had a severe stuttering habit

I went through six years
of speech therapy. - Fantastic Fungi

I went through six years of speech therapy.

I could not speak
a single sentence - Fantastic Fungi

I could not speak a single sentence

Fantastic Fungi poster

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Fantastic Fungi is a descriptive time-lapse journey about the magical, mysterious and medicinal world of fungi and their power to heal, sustain and contribute to the regeneration of life on Earth that began 3.5 billion years ago.

User Rating: 0.0 (0 ratings)

Director: Louie Schwartzberg

Writer: Mark Monroe

Production: Artemis Rising,Diamond Docs,Moving Art

Genre: documentary

Year: 2019

MetaScore: 70/100

ImdbRating: 7.4

BoxOffice: $1,788,322

Released: 11 Oct 2019

Awards: 1 nomination

Homepage: https://movingart.com/fantastic-fungi/

Also watch: At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal, Femme Fatale, In the Heights, Icarus, Never Look Away, Badlands, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, The Shadow in My Eye, Nomadland, Jackass Forever, Friday the 13th Part 2, Pig