“I can’t actually take credit for the editing, for the camera work, for the directing, for the producing. All I had to do was walk around in a beautiful forest trying to look like I was having thoughts,” Merlin Sheldrake says from the stage of Reykjavík cinema Bíó Paradís and the audience bursts into laughter. The British biologist, whom The Guardian likened to “Timothée Chalamet playing a Cambridge academic,” is in Iceland for a special screening of Fungi: Web of Life , narrated by none other than Björk.
The event, held for the singer’s family and friends, marks the beginning of Merlin’s journey into promoting the fascinating world of fungi. Later that same week, he gave talks at the Glastonbury Festival about fungi and how they can deepen our understanding of what it means to be human. While he might joke about his role in making the film, Merlin is far from a random inclusion in the 45-minute documentary by Gisela Kaufmann and Joseph Nizeti.
With a PhD in tropical ecology and expertise in mycorrhizal fungi, Merlin essentially became the face of fungi after his 2020 book, Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds , became a global bestseller. He joined the film as a presenter, embarking on a journey around the world to showcase some of the strangest and grandest fungi there are. Through interviews with experts and innovators, he also gave audiences a sneak peek into how these organisms can be harnessed for the benefit of humanity — for instance, .