Defendant 5

The personal journey of a filmmaker caught in the crossfire of the battle for Tasmania's ancient forests.


In 2001, filmmaker Heidi Lee Douglas goes to the Australian island state of Tasmania to make a documentary about the destruction of the island's ancient forests.

As anti-logging protests escalate, she crosses the line from filmmaker to activist.

Logging giant Gunns Ltd reacts to public pressure by suing Heidi Lee Doglas and 19 others for $6.4m for allegedly conspiring to destroy the company's business.

When the filmmaker discovers Gunns wants to use her footage as evidence to support its claims, she faces a moral dilemma. Her response is to turn the camera on herself to document her personal struggle as she goes into battle against a corporation out of control.