Family Tree

Family Tree explores sustainable forestry in North Carolina through the stories of two Black families fighting to preserve their land and legacy. Family Tree's cinéma vérité approach reveals the vast task of maintaining the land while navigating challenging family dynamics, unscrupulous developers, and changing environmental needs. The forest itself and the beauty of its changing seasons become a primary character in this family drama.

Touring with the Film

Jennifer MacArthur (Director) is a filmmaker exploring the impact of our changing climate through the intersection of documentary and genre film. "Family Tree" is her directorial debut.

Previously, Jennifer produced the critically acclaimed feature documentary "Whose Streets?," which premiered on DAY ONE of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and sold to Magnolia Pictures. She has also produced for TIME Studios, Soledad O'Brien Productions, and Anonymous Content. She is a 2018 IFP Cannes Producers Network Fellow and 2016 Sundance Creative Producing Summit Fellow and a member of the board of directors for Storyline Media, an award-winning multi-platform, participatory, and interactive storytelling company.

A recognized expert in media engagement, Jennifer is a 2015 Creative Change Leader and 2015 Rockwood JustFilms Fellow. Over a ten-year period, she helped define the field with impact campaigns for "Traces of the Trade" (POV, 2008) and "Gideon's Army" (HBO, 2013); engagement strategy for the ITVS social TV platform OVEE; and thought leadership for Doc Society's "Impact Field Guide" and The Center for Investigative Reporting's "Impact Tracker," among others. Her work also took her to Amsterdam, Melbourne, and Guadalajara for keynotes addressing systemic racism, big data, and low-fi transmedia. Jennifer sits on the advisory board for Harmony Labs, a media research institute founded by Buzzfeed co-founder John S. Johnson.

Doc Society selected Jennifer for its inaugural Impact Producers Retreat in 2012. With producer Brenda Coughlin (CITIZENFOUR), she established the peer support network Impact Producers Group and launched Impact Socials, a networking event for creative change-makers. Her commitment to artist development kept her active on the festival circuit as an industry delegate, a Lab Leader for IFP Labs (now The Gotham), and an advisor for Sundance Labs, Tribeca New Media, and the Mozilla Foundation.

Jennifer is a graduate of The New School's film program in New York City. She lives and works in Los Angeles.