Mari Koppanen

The Hatmaker

Imre has dedicated his entire life to practising the amadou craft. Tinder mushrooms growing on the trunks of trees can be stretched into leather-like material, which can be used to manufacture hats, for example. The art of this traditional Romanian handcraft is threatening to disappear, since there are no too many artisans left. Imre wants to secure the future of the craft and has taken an apprentice. The documentary short introduces the rare traditional handcraft and takes us on a trip to the forest with Imre and his apprentice to harvest the tinder mushrooms at dawn.