WATCHING PEOPLE WATCHING BIRDS
Politically urgent, serious yet humorous, this film follows people who are passionate about birdwatching, drawing us into a world that becomes a metaphor for the state of our planet.
Bird populations and species are declining dramatically across the globe. At the same time, more and more people are discovering the world of birds for themselves – each with their own unique story of how they became a birdwatcher. Looking through binoculars is like a search for something primal, unique and true. In an almost magical way, this search seems to transfer to the viewer – as if they were stepping out of the cinema with sharpened senses and entering a different world. Our film turns the gaze from the birds back to the people who inspire us with their love of birds and devotion to nature. Among them is world-renowned author Jonathan Franzen, who says: “One reason wild birds are so important (...) is that they represent our last, best connection to a natural world that is otherwise disappearing.” Politically urgent, serious yet also humorous, the film uses cinematic imagery and immersive soundscapes to portray a society at a time of profound crisis and upheaval. It is a story of doubt and hope, life and death, staying and disappearing. And the birds become, in a captivating, almost uncanny way, a metaphor for the state of our planet.
