Palm Oil in the Land of Orangutans: A Documentary That Redefines Harmony Between Man, Forest, and Industry

Danish filmmaker explores fragile harmony between palm oil, forest, and humanity in Borneo.

In Palm Oil in the Land of Orangutans, Danish filmmaker Dan Sall takes viewers deep into the tangled green of Central Kalimantan, where palm oil, forest, and humanity coexist in a complex web of interdependence. Through the lens of Carl Traeholt, International Project Development Manager at the Copenhagen Zoo, the film becomes a reflective expedition, uncovering a fragile yet genuine harmony between industry and nature.

 

Shot over eight years (2015–2023), this collaboration between the Copenhagen Zoo and United Plantation, a Danish palm oil company, traces how coexistence can take root even in one of the world’s most contested landscapes. In the rolling fields of Pangkalan Bun, Traeholt finds more than data for conservation reports; he discovers balance, a living proof that palm oil, wildlife, and human livelihoods need not be adversaries.

 

“This isn’t about romanticizing the industry,” Traeholt notes in one interview scene. “It’s about recognizing that harmony can grow from the soil of responsibility.”

 

Rebuilding the Forest Corridors

The film’s emotional and scientific center lies in United Plantation’s ambitious forest corridor restoration project, designed to reconnect palm plantations with the protected forests near Tanjung Puting National Park. These 318 hectares of rehabilitated land now form a lifeline for orangutans, birds, and reptiles—green bridges where walls of monoculture once stood.

 

Through Sall’s patient cinematography, drones capture the living geometry of transformation: the once uniform lines of palms now interwoven with streams, forest edges, and movement. An orangutan crossing the corridor becomes both symbol and statement; conservation and cultivation are not mutually exclusive.

 

Rather than echoing the familiar black-and-white narrative of palm oil’s destruction, the film dwells in the gray, where farmers protect riverbanks, companies nurture biodiversity, and local wisdom shapes a new model of sustainability. It challenges the European stereotype that palm oil is inherently destructive and instead offers a measured alternative: progress grounded in partnership.

 

From Screen to Dialogue

Following its Jakarta premiere at Hollywood XXI on October 17, 2025, the film transformed from a visual experience into a platform for discussion. The post-screening dialogue brought together Carl Traeholt, Simon Bruslund (Director of Global Development, Copenhagen Zoo), and Dr. Petrus Gunarso, an Indonesian forestry and environmental expert.

 

Their conversation, moderated under the initiative of the Indonesian Embassy in Denmark and Palm Oil Strategic Studies (IPOSS), emphasized one central message: palm oil deserves to be understood through evidence, not emotion. Many cases of deforestation, they noted, predate modern palm expansion. In Europe, meanwhile, opposition to palm oil often intertwines with trade politics, where highly efficient and low-cost tropical oil threatens domestic oilseed markets.

 

The discussion was vibrant; nearly half the audience raised their hands to ask questions, spurred as much by intellectual curiosity as by the promise of prizes for the best queries. Yet beneath the humor and human energy lay a serious undercurrent: a growing realization that dialogue, not confrontation, is the only way forward.

 

Soft Diplomacy in Action

Palm Oil in the Land of Orangutans is more than a documentary; it’s soft diplomacy in motion. Supported by Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it stands as a cinematic bridge between nations, challenging oversimplified global narratives about palm oil. Instead of preaching or defending, it invites reflection through facts, empathy, and shared responsibility.

 

While the film doesn’t shy away from acknowledging the industry’s flaws, it highlights what rarely makes headlines: innovation, reforestation, and local empowerment. It suggests that sustainability isn’t an abstract goal but a practical journey, born from collaboration between scientists, companies, farmers, and conservationists.

 

For Indonesia, the screening and discussion mark more than a cultural event; they symbolize green diplomacy, an effort to show that progress and protection can coexist. Like the forest corridor linking plantation and jungle, the film links two worlds: one of production, one of preservation.

 

And in that connection, perhaps, lies the truest meaning of sustainability—not as an end, but as an ongoing dialogue between humans, forests, and the planet they share.

by Rangkaya Bada