FABIans were treated to a unique opportunity to view the new Planet Fungi documentary movie ‘Follow the Rain’. The movie was screened in the Senate Hall at the University of Pretoria on 2 April and hosted by FABI. The rights to show this visually stunning movie were secured by Prof. Mike Wingfield following his recent field trip to inspect trees in the miombo woodlands in the Muchinga of northern Zambia. This trip was linked to an ICRAF project where the internationally recognised Australian fungal movie producers and mushroom photographers Stephen Axford and Catherine Marciniak had been commissioned to produce a documentary on the harvesting and use of mushrooms by local villagers. During the visit he had the opportunity to see this remarkable team in action and to view the movie after which he immediately set about securing the rights for FABIans to enjoy it too.

The movie is a stunning showcase of Stephen and Catherine’s photographic and videography talents showing fungi in their natural habitat in Australia where they flourish following rain events. A group of 90 guests that including renowned mycologists, Prof. Peter Mortimer and Prof. Marieka Gryzenhout sat spellbound by the movie before enjoying refreshments. The screening was preceded by a short but fascinating presentation by Prof. Mortimer who has worked with the Planet Fungi team cataloguing and recording fungi in Asia for more than a decade. Prof. Wingfield also presented a short talk on his recent trip to northern Zambia and the amazing fungal diversity he witnessed while on the trip.

Follow the Rain is currently only available on Netflix in Australia and New Zealand. But the hope is that worldwide rights to it will soon be secured by the streaming platform so that South African and other audiences globally can also enjoy this documentary and learn more about the amazing world of fungi. Meanwhile, visit the Fungal Planet YouTube channel to view more of the team’s stunning documentaries.