The flavour and richness of Jean Giono’s language and the poetry and magic colours of Frédéric Back are united ina an enthralling film whose human and artistic qualities are out of the ordinary. The story, narrated by the great French actor Philippe Noiret, tells how good and simple man with an ear for the language of the earth, makes a forest grow in what was a god-forsaken, waterless waste. The story, like the film is a tribute to patience and hard work, and to the generous heart of his shepherd who is desterred neither by wars nor setbacks, a man who puts himself in second place, behind his life’s work. The program is a personal vision of Giono’s story designed frame by its producer for the pleasure of the eyes. “The man who planted trees” is the winner if the 1987 Oscar for Best Animated Film. This is the second Oscar Mr. Back received; the first was in 1982 for his film entitled “Crac”.