When a developer begins bulldozing centuries old oaks to build a meat packing plant, the trees fight back biochemically, aided by a drug-addicted young botanist and cantankerous old shaman. (Finalist at both the 2021 Atlanta and 2021 Miami Screenplay Awards and Bronze Winner at the Winter 2022 Nature without Borders Intl. Film Festival.)

SYNOPSIS:

Screenplay Awards Network: "The script is a captivating story with a clear premise and characters that feel natural and genuine. The writer does a good job of establishing these characters early on with character actions. The script was easy to read, comprehend, and follow. Nice job."

Kanesha Williams, Ph.D., a thirtysomething research botanist at UCLA, has proven through the use of polygraphs that plants not only have feelings, but can communicate.

So when she learns that an oak tree was heard moaning as it was being bulldozed, she decides to investigate.

She arrives in a small town and soon becomes embroiled in a large conflict. Vandercook Enterprises, supported by the local business community, plans to destroy a grove of centuries old oak in order to build a meat packing plant.

They are opposed, at least initially, by only one person. But this eightysomething native shaman, Alona, who lives next to the oak grove, is a force to be reckoned with.

Kanesha and Alona quickly bond over their love of "the green things." They are soon joined by sixteen-year-old Francisca, a pistol in her own right, who organizes the other students to protest the development.

But when the oaks start emitting poisonous gases when stressed, the mission to protect them meets further resistance from the town folk, especially after Francisca becomes ill.

Kanesha's dependence on anxiety and pain medications for PTSD becomes public as well as increasingly problematic. Her attraction to Matt, Alona's grandson, is not reciprocated, further adding to her despair.

After nearly committing suicide, she finds a creative way to defeat Vandercook and save the oaks from further destruction, and in the process, overcomes (for now) her personal struggles with addiction, PTSD, and depression.

LAST TREE STANDING