Documentary
Giants Rising
TL;DR
Giants Rising follows redwood researchers and Yurok cultural practitioners into the coast redwood forests of California, looking at how these trees survive fire, what they do for the people who stand among them, and what it takes to grow the forests back.
Quick Facts
- Year of production
- 2024
- Director and producer
- Lisa Landers
- Co-producer
- Jen Ciraldo
- Editor
- Damon Claussen
- Composer
- Cody Westheimer
- Runtime
- 82 minutes, with a 56-minute version. Apple TV lists 1 hour 13 minutes.
- Language
- English and Yurok
- Rating
- TV-G, as listed by Apple TV
- National PBS premiere
- 1 November 2025
Giants Rising is a documentary about the coast redwoods of California and the people working to understand and protect them. Lisa Landers directed and produced this film. Giants Rising moves between two different perspectives and gives them equal respect. Redwood researchers climb into the canopy and read tree rings to work out how these trees survive fire and hold carbon. Yurok practitioners describe cultural burning, canoe carving and the return of land and fisheries to tribal management. Paul Piff, a social psychologist at UC Irvine, carries a third thread about what happens to people when they stand in front of something that ancient and enormous. The film premiered nationally on PBS on 1 November 2025. Its distribution through GOOD DOCS runs 82 minutes, with a 56-minute version also available, and Apple TV lists its streaming version at 1 hour 13 minutes. The film is in English with some Yurok, and carries captions, a transcript, and French and Mandarin subtitles.
Why OGSP Recommends It
Giants Rising focuses on people who are working to bring a Redwood forest back. The film explains their work using their own words. Lisa Landers focuses on the Yurok practitioners and the redwood scientists equally. It also shares the perspective that standing in front of something so enormous and alive changes how people treat each other. That makes Giants Rising a perfect candidate for a One Good Story Project recommendation.
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Related Resources
Key Takeaways
- Coast redwoods are the tallest living beings on Earth and among the oldest, which is what makes them a record of past climate and past fire.
- Redwood tree rings are read as data. Allyson Carroll at Cal Poly Humboldt studies them to date a tree’s age, its growth and the fires it lived through.
- Cultural burning is presented as forest care rather than only fire prevention. Margo Robbins runs that work through the Cultural Fire Management Council on Yurok reservation and ancestral land.
- Paul Piff’s research at UC Irvine connects the experience of awe to human kindness and cooperation, which is the film’s link between a forest and a person.
- The film’s own take-action pages ask for two concrete things, growing back 70,000 acres and restoring cultural connections.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who directed Giants Rising?
Redwoods Rising was directed and produced bLisa Landers. She spent over two decades making content for television networks and museums including National Geographic, the Smithsonian Channel, PBS/KQED and the American Museum of Natural History.y
Where can I watch Giants Rising?
It streams on PBS, Apple TV, Amazon Prime and Fandango at Home. The film’s site also lists Comcast.
How long is Giants Rising?
The version distributed by GOOD DOCS runs 82 minutes, and a 56-minute cut is also available for broadcast and classroom use. Apple TV lists its streaming version at 1 hour 13 minutes.
Who is featured in Giants Rising?
Fourteen people appear, among them redwood canopy researchers Stephen C. Sillett and Marie E. Antoine of Cal Poly Humboldt, Yurok Tribal Heritage Preservation Officer Rosie Clayburn, Yurok Tribal Fisheries Director Barry McCovey Jr., and Cultural Fire Management Council Executive Director Margo Robbins.
Can Giants Rising be shown in a classroom?
Yes. It has educational distribution through GOOD DOCS, and the film’s own site carries a discussion guide for educators and students. Captions and a transcript are included, and French and Mandarin subtitles are available.
What awards has Giants Rising won?
Its distributor lists Best Feature Documentary at the Coronado Island Film Festival and the Audience Award at the Maui Film Festival, along with Best Documentary at the Simi Film Festival, Best Cinematography at the Global Science Film Festival, Best Environmental Feature Documentary at the Arizona International Film Festival and Best Documentary Feature at the Eugene Environmental Film Festival.