Dr. Willie Smits, who directs the Wanariset Orangutan Reintroduction Project, and his team rescue hundreds of orangutans. Dr. Smits is committed to preserving orangutan habitat and returning captives back into rainforest homes.

At Wanariset the orphans learn the vital skills they need to survive. When they are old and skilled enough, orangutan ex-captives are released into protected rainforest. Without mothers and more knowledgeable elders, strange 'Lord of the Flies' communities evolve in the forest. Eventually the orangutans learn to sustain themselves independently of human aid.

With the impending extinction of these great apes, opportunities to observe and interact with free-roaming orangutans are displaced every day as the rainforest diminishes and the pet-trade flourishes. The rare dedication of a few scientists, however, brings hope to large numbers of captive orangutans who live between two worlds.

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Reviews
"Sarita Siegel's powerful film The Disenchanted Forest documents attempts to return young orangutans to their original rainforest habitats in Indonesia. It is poignant without sentimentality, unblinking about the destruction of the rainforests and their inhabitants but hopeful about the small successes of the orangutan rehabilitation centers. Working closely with the staff of the centers, she shows how fluid the boundary between wild and domestic, human and animal can be in the case of orphaned orangutans, who must be reacculturated to rainforest life. Her film underscores the urgency of conservation efforts, while at the same time making us think hard about the meanings and values of culture and nature."