Canadian Premiere
High in the northern Alps, three women take turns caring for a mountain lodge as hikers come and go. Divided into three sections, Forest High follows each caretaker as they settle in for their respective season, adopting the static, observational perspective of the place itself, and absorbing in the process the myriad of stories and emotional echoes as they’re joined by the rotating casts of characters.
Shot over four seasons at a real-life refuge, Manon Coubia demonstrates a masterful command of form and tone with this captivating feature debut, inspired by her own experiences as a warden. Expanding on her Locarno-winning short film The Fullness of Time, Forest High skillfully plays with classicist traditions while flirting with docufiction. The triptych structure naturally lends itself to a three-character study, with each segment tied together by a profound reflection on solitude and the timeless presence of mountains — a character in its own right.
Special Mention: Perspectives, Berlinale 2026
Media Partner
Salomé Richard, Aurélia Petit, Anne Coesens, Arthur Marbaix, Yoann Zimmer, Alba Rincon Gille
Belgium/France
2026
In French with English subtitles
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Credits & Director
Producer
Jérémy van der Haegen, Nicolas Rincon Gille, Manon Coubia, Tom Durand-Bonnard, Katia Khazak, Charlotte Vincent
Screenwriter
Manon Coubia
Cinematography
Robin Fresson
Editor
Théophile Gay-Mazas
Original Music
François Chamaraux
Manon Coubia
Manon Coubia lives and works in Brussels, and each of her films develops a formal search between documentary and fiction. In 2016, she received the Golden Leopard ÒPardi Di DomaniÓ for her short film The Fullness of Time, and in 2017 her short Children Leave at Dawn was selected for La semaine de la Critique. In 2021, she joined directors Nicolas Rincon Gille and Jeremy van der Haegen at the Belgian production company, The Blue Raincoat. Her first feature, Forest High, was selected for the 2026 Berlinale in the Perspectives competition.
Filmography: Cherry Blue (2012)
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