ABOUT THE FILM

LOGLINE

In Atlanta, a decentralized resistance movement rallies to defend an urban forest from the construction of Cop City, the United States’ largest police training facility.

LONG SYNOPSIS

When the city of Atlanta announces plans to build the largest police training center in the U.S.—destroying a vital urban forest in the process—a decentralized activist movement mobilizes to stop “Cop City.”

Forest defenders occupy the Weelaunee forest, disrupting construction through direct action. Their resistance delays the progress of police militarization, but the celebration is cut short when police raid the camp and kill one of the activists, Tortuguita.

Grief turns to defiance as protests spill into the streets, transforming a local land struggle into a national reckoning over policing, environmental justice, and democracy. With rare access, A CITY IN THE FOREST witnesses the power of collective organizing in an urgent and historic struggle.

Directors Lev Omelchenko, Nolan Huber

Writers Lev Omelchenko, Nolan Huber, Ike Rofé, Emily Yue

Producers Ike Rofé, Lev Omelchenko, Nolan Huber, Jaime Chew, Annie Woods

Executive Producers Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr., Nicholas Weissman

Co-Producer Mike Morgan

Editor Emily Yue

Cinematographers Lev Omelchenko, Nolan Huber

Sound Designer and Mixer Gisela Fullà Silvestre

original score by Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe

FESTIVALS
2026: Sheffield (World Premiere)

AVAILABLE TERRITORIES
The World

EXHIBITION FORMATS
DCP, Digital Download