Medicine, Food, Poison. The Marvelous World of Fungi Explored in Upcoming Documentary18.12.2019

"Fantastic Fungi: The Magic Beneath Us" investigates the globe-spanning kingdom of organisms that we still know very little about. The documentary is narrated by Academy Award winner Brie Larson, who took home the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in the 2015 film The Room.

In the Louie Schwartzberg-directed documentary, the invisible networks created by fungi and mycelia are compared to a subterranean Internet, that has managed to link basically all living organisms on the planet over the past three and a half billion years. The roles and influence this sprawling, global system has on all life on Earth are explained by a number of experts, including food journalist Eugenia Boone, mycologist Paul Stamets, and writer and journalist Michael Pollan.

“It’s amazing what we don’t know about mushrooms. They really are a frontier of knowledge,” says Pollan in the film’s trailer.

"Fantastic Fungi" also explores many other benefits that fungi offer mankind, including their contributions to biodiversity across the globe, science and engineering, nutrition, as well as physical, mental, and spiritual health. The documentary also delves into the many practical applications of fungi, including the recent developments in psychotherapy that involve the use of hallucinogenic mushrooms.

The film is slated for international release in February 2020.