The Secret World of Herbs

Secluded for many centuries in inaccessible valleys, the inhabitants of the Alps had no alternative but to rely on the healing powers of nature. A knowledge of herbs was deeply rooted in these mountain-dwellers’ everyday lives – until the twentieth century, when this wisdom became eclipsed by modern academic medicine. Today, Alpine herbs are witnessing a revival, as public interest in regional natural treasures grows. The potential of Alpine herbs is far from exhausted. In the Berchtesgaden Alps, the film shows Hubsi Ilsanker at work as a root-digger, a back-breaking job that has scarcely changed in four hundred years. Authorized by a special historic permit to supply the oldest gentian distillery in Germany, Hubsi digs for protected gentian roots in Berchtesgaden National Park. For yellow gentian is one of the most bitter medicinal herbs in the world, well suited for schnapps and as a general tonic. In the Swiss canton of Graubünden, the audience encounters druggist Astrid Thurner, a pioneering edelweiss cultivator who has planted an entire field with the high-Alpine plant, for its anti-oxidative ingredients, which she utilizes in her own line of cosmetic products. At the Center for Biomedicine in Innsbruck we learn of a sensational finding. The researchers have discovered a new compound in edelweiss: leoligin, a substance that could revolutionize the treatment of vascular disease. Alternative therapist Astrid Süßmuth invites us to tour the “outdoor pharmacy” of the Ötztal Alps. She introduces us to the most toxic herb in Europe, blue wolf’s bane – also known as the arsenic of medieval times. At Benedictine Admont Monastery, the film explores the largest abbey library in the world; and in the village of Heiligenblut, near the Großglockner, we look on as traditionally costumed local women celebrate the “blessing of the herbs”, a long forgotten custom from pre-Christian times. In the Dolomite Mountains of South Tyrol, gourmet chef Franz Mulser puts the ta

In the pristine nature and mild climate of southeastern Europe grows a unique diversity of wild plants. Far removed from major industry and polluted soils, the Balkan countries have become the largest exporter of herbs in Europe. In Bulgaria alone, more than 300,000 people work with domestic plants. The business is becoming increasingly lucrative. The film takes us to the Croatian coast. On the Adriatic island of Cres, the audience meets Mladen Dragoslavić. In May, when the sage begins to blossom, this beekeeper has one month to produce his income for an entire year – always with the goal of creating the best sage honey in the Balkans. Given a choice, the bees would never choose sage, for entering and exiting the narrow blossom is strenuous. Within three weeks, maximum, Mladen must remove his bees from the island. Otherwise they will die of exhaustion. In Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, the film visits Iva Yosifova. Hollyhock provides the raw material for her objects of art. The herb is medically beneficial, due to its mucilage, which is added to many cough tea mixtures. Iva, though, makes paper from hollyhock. Thanks to the herb’s long fibres, the paper can be spread onto objects and modeled. The technique produces delicate sculptures, as fragile as nature. In Trigrad, a small village in the Bulgarian Rhodopes, locals consider the wild mountain tea a miracle cure that enhances virility and guarantees longevity. The great demand nearly decimated the herb. The film encounters Michaela Yordanowa, busy in her garden laboratory, crossing the wild mountain tea until she has plants robust enough to be reproduced. The new breed is meant to help the local population cultivate the valuable herb in their domestic gardens or fields. In the Bulgarian Balkan Mountains – a region plagued by high unemployment and depopulation – we encounter Nikola Nikolov. The village teacher from Chiprovtsi has started a garden with his pupils, growing dyer’s madder. The plant was a

In India, herbs play an everyday role hardly equalled anywhere in the world. From the tropical green south to the mountains of the northern Himalayas, herbs lend fragrence to joss sticks and soaps, and flavor to the cuisine. And, above all, herbs heal. Six thousand varieties of plants are used in India, and most are harvested in the wild – where they are becoming depleted. The ever rising need for herbal medicine for the subcontinent’s 1.3 billion inhabitants comes on top of the demand of its growing middle class for herbal-based cosmetics. As a result, certain herbs have become scarce, while others have already vanished entirely. Most of the herbs in India are harvested in the wild. The progress of first cultivation attempts is slow. In India, the rural population, especially, needs affordable, well-tolerated medicine – medicine based on herbs. In Kerala, the film shows a family operation that hand-produces botanical medicine for the local market. High up in the Himalayas, we observe a village healer at work. The science of Ayurvedic medicine is five thousand years old. Today, interest in the ancient healing art is surging, not only in India. In Delhi’s Old Town, the film visits a wholesaler who supplies the booming global herb market, and we take a look inside the laboratories of the largest manufacturer of Ayurvedic medicines in the world. In Kerala, we meet a doctor employed at a small Ayurveda clinic, and in Nordern India, we join a student of Tibetan medicine on a hike up into the mountains, where she prepares for an exam in herbology. The film presents a world of herbs shaped by the diverging forces of traditional wisdom and modern science, while introducing people who live with and off herbs. The rapid transition of Indian society poses a challenge – supply is ever outstripped by the demand for herbs. Healers and dealers, patients and doctors are all dependent on the success of Indian attempts to preserve its diversity of herbs. Brahmi, or Indian

Healing effects, fragrance, and intense flavor – the benefits of herbs were discovered by the indigenous peoples of South America long before Spanish conquistadores subdued the continent. Even today, in the remote regions of South America, life without herbs is unthinkable. For many inhabitants, they provide the sole medicine. For more than two thousand years, this wisdom of the healing powers of nature has been passed down from generation to generation. In Bolivia, the film accompanies ethnobiologist Rainer Bussmann on one of his expeditions documenting which herbs the locals use against which illnesses. The German scientist has spent the last 15 years in the region, focussed on preserving this invaluable knowledge. The global trend toward natural therapy has created a growing market for medicinal plants. More than 70,000 varieties of plants are traded around the world. In Peru, this has given the local population a new source of income. Our viewers meet José Ingamani and his family. The Ingamanis gather the roots of the extremely sensitive rhatany plant for a Swiss cosmetics producer. Camped for weeks in the Andean foothills, they guarantee their European buyer sustainable harvesting methods. The antibacterial compound extracted from their harvest is later used in toothpaste. The film follows a trail of herbs across the continent. In Patagonia, pharmacologist Silvia Gonzalez draws captivating fragrances from a hardy herb; while, in Buenos Aires, top chef Martin Molteni explores old botanical books, gleaning from them the herbs that distinguish his award-winning menus. Argentinians seem addicted to their herbal tea, mate. In the province of Misiones, small growers have united to produce a two thousand year-old variety originated by Guarani Indians – yerba mate, smoked over an open fire. This delicacy has revived the prospects of these mate farmers and their families. High above Lake Titicaca, the audience witnesses a Kallawaya ceremony. The Kallawaya

Its native fragrant flowers and aromatic herbs have made the Provence a brand known worldwide. The wealth of flora found in this region, between the French Alps and the Mediterranean, is unequalled among the French provinces. Around Sault, near Mont Ventoux, the valleys and high plains are carpeted with bright violet: In the hot climate of the South of France, lavender blooms and exudes its fragrance. Monastic healers have been using its aromatic medicinal oil since the Middle Ages. And today an entire industry is based on the trade with this fragrant flower. Yet the livelihood of Provençal lavender farmers is emperiled. In France’s major lavender-growing region, the “Plateau de Valensole”, our viewers encounter Gérard Blanc, who has been hit particularly hard. The lavender farmer lost sixty percent of his harvest to one tiny insect: the leafhopper. This insect has already destroyed half of the lavender acreage, bumping France from its market position as the world’s top producer of lavender oil. The film visits a resolute farmer who, not about to give up, is testing methods to fend off the voracious insect. Even the huge perfume industry owes its success to the climate – their fragrant ingredients grow right next door. Parfumer Delphine Thierry escorts us out into the pungent hills around Nizza. The film shows her creating an exquisite perfume, capturing the characteristic aroma of the Cote d’Azur. In a garden in Luberon, the camera encounters another inventive Provençal: Catherine Pisani has turned her passion for herb collecting into a business model and currently raises a total of 60 varieties of basil. Then things get exotic, as we visit a restaurant kitchen in Aix-en-Provence. Here, molecular cuisine chef Pierre Reboul transforms earthy kitchen herbs into a colorful haute cuisine product; seasoning his anise creation, for example, with oregano. Each summer, the pungent herbs on the mountain pasture lure thousands of sheep up into the Alps. With b