"[E]ncourages us to spend time in nature, truly synchronizing with its complexity...from the immediate to the seasonal." Tyler Volk, Emeritus Prof, Envl Studies, NYU

Josh Fox can attend your event, host a discussion, give a keynote address, or even perform the film with live music and a chorus. To inquire about inviting Josh Fox to your screening, please contact info@bullfrogfilms.com.

What is humankind's role in nature? Is there such a thing as Nature? What does the word mean? Are human beings simply destroyers of biodiversity and balance or do we have another purpose? In The Edge of Nature, Oscar-Nominated, Emmy-Winning director Josh Fox (Gasland, Awake, A Dream from Standing Rock) isolates himself in the woods amidst a dreamscape of rising worldwide crises.

After a harrowing bout with COVID, Josh isolates himself in a one room cabin in the forest for four seasons. Everything in the film is done in isolation: from the building of the structures to the harvesting of foraged plants to discovering the principles of the forest. The pandemic calls into question everything that our civilization has done to dominate natural world. The plants tell the history of the land—colonialism is literally rooted into the ground. Invasive species are in a war for turf every day against native plants.

Surrounded by authoritarianism and the descendants of the Native American genocide, Josh investigates his own history as son and grandson of Jewish holocaust survivors who created a safe haven among the trees. Like a Coronavirus cocoon, the woods become protection and imagination. Nature itself is a call to action, a value system and a mystery that we must protect.

Other films by Josh Fox available from Bullfrog are Awake, A Dream from Standing Rock, and How to Let Go of the World.



Grade Level: 10 - 12, Colleg, Adults
US Release Date: 2025     Copyright Date: 2025
DVD ISBN: 1-961192-49-7

Reviews "Sheer Brilliance." Common Dreams "Part Basho, part Thoreau, part Rachel Carson, Josh Fox finds healing and meaning in the woodlands of Pennsylvania, and masterfully blurs the boundary between humans and nature during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. As Pete Seeger and his banjo ring like a familiar heartbeat through the film, Fox denounces the mass killing in the colonial and modern United States of native beavers, elk, black bears, passenger pigeons, and Indigenous peoples, and how the technocratic plutocrats of today have continued this social and ecological pillaging, even as humanity had a brief but meaningful respite during the pandemic." Alberto Arenas, Professor of Environmental and Sustainability Education, University of Arizona, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Environmental Education "There is a surprise around every moment on screen that will leave you rejoicing and contemplating our planet's future, our future." Holli Harms, The Front Row Center "Having spent a lot of time in nature myself with intervals of partial isolation, I find this film fascinating. The filmmaker's need to go into nature is powerfully presented, as is his wonderful moments of realization, strength, and epiphany. These moments are memorable and wonderful to watch as they unfold. I am reminded of other trailblazing authors, such as Henry David Thoreau and William Wordsworth, who also went into nature with questions, hopes for answers, and eventually answers. The Edge of Nature encourages us to spend time in nature, truly synchronizing with its complexity and the various scales of its rhythms, from the immediate to the seasonal." Tyler Volk, Emeritus Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies, New York University, Author, Quarks to Culture: How We Came to Be "Even given the weighty topics of genocide and ecocide, Fox's piece is the opposite of a bummer, taking the time to remind people of how blue the sky was - and how clear the birdcalls were - when COVID-19 stopped the world and reduced emissions. It suggests that we not only must change course on climate, but that such a change is possible." PJ Grisar, The Forward "This film reminds viewers of the dystopian present, highlighting the absurdity of our current political and ecological reality. Drawing on the filmmaker's autobiographical experiences with long-COVID and depression, it interweaves themes of intergenerational trauma, ecological connection, and healing. With Fox's heartfelt story as inspiration, The Edge of Nature will encourage high school and undergraduate Environmental Science students to reconsider their own experiences and responsibilities." Anna J. Willow, Professor of Anthropology, The Ohio State University, Author, Understanding ExtrACTIVISM: Culture and Power in Natural Resource Disputes "Rousing...A passionate call to once and for all return humanity to its original role as environmental caretakers." Lauren Wissot, Documentary Magazine "Was COVID the worst epidemic of the modern age to afflict mankind? Josh Fox comes to the striking conclusion that our polluted, industrialized lifestyle brings about far more deaths and suffering than occurred because of COVID. But Nature heals - His time in the wilderness was not just an antidote to the mental and physical disabilities of long COVID, but also an antidote to the outside world's nationalistic fervor and fascism, pursuit of materialism, and awful impact on climate." Peter Bunyard, Author, Gaia in Action: Science of the Living Earth and Extreme Weather: The Cataclysmic Effects of Climate Change "Intimate and heartrending...In the same year that the Earth gains temporary relief through the COVID lockdown, Josh Fox records his own impairment and recuperation by immersion in a seasonal cycle of life and death. The sorrowful history of human violence culminating in the Anthropocene malaise is transmuted into hope and determination through humor, Pete Seeger banjo music, and rapt attunement to the bounty of one's living surroundings. The Edge of Nature viscerally reconnects personal and collective health to the wellbeing and resilient generosity of the natural world." Bruce Clarke, Horn Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Literature and Science, Texas Tech University, Author, Gaian Systems: Lynn Margulis, Neocybernetics, and the End of the Anthropocene