The Berkeley Aquatic Park

Where the Stone Dropped

January 2021 •English

Created in the Victorian era to widen the mouth of the River Tees for shipping, South Gare is a man-made peninsula extending four kilometres into the cold North Sea. Today, the industry it was built for has gone, but the Gare remains as a haven for all sorts of unexpected communities - kite-surfers, photographers, bird-watchers, scuba-divers and the people who simply appreciate its strange, lonely beauty.

Birds of America

May 2022 •French

In the first half of the 19th century, the French ornithologist Jean-Jacques Audubon travelled to America to depict birdlife along the Mississippi River. Audubon was also a gifted painter. His life’s work in the form of the classic book ‘Birds of America’ is an invaluable documentation of both extinct species and an entire world of imagination. During the same period, early industrialisation and the expulsion of indigenous peoples was in full swing. The gorgeous film traces Audubon’s path around the South today. The displaced people’s descendants welcome us and retell history, while the deserted vistas of heavy industry stretch across the horizon. The magnificent, broad images in Jacques Loeuille’s atmospheric, modern adventure reminds us at the same time how little - and yet how much - is left of the nature that Audubon travelled around in. His paintings of the colourful birdlife of the South still belong to the most beautiful things you can imagine.

Oceans

January 2010 •English

An ecological drama/documentary, filmed throughout the globe. Part thriller, part meditation on the vanishing wonders of the sub-aquatic world.

Arjan's Big Year

October 2017 •English

In 2016, Dutch birdwatcher Arjan Dwarshuis traveled the world to spot as many birds as possible in the span of one year, with the goal to break the big year world record (6042 species, set by Noah Strycker in 2015).

Out with the Birds

November 2024 •English

It is a documentary about mostly inner-city birds. It is meant to examine their lives in a more metropolitan context as they become increasingly tangled in our everyday lives.

Birders

September 2019 •English

Bird watchers on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border share their enthusiasm for protecting and preserving some of the world's most beautiful species.

SHOOTER

January 2024 •Italian

A short audiovisual portrait of Giulio Nick Piacentini, a young sound engineer with a hobby for nature photography. Realized for the Filmmaking Laboratory at DAMS RomaTre with Antonietta De Lillo.

Swans: Mystery of the Missing

March 2019 •English

With narration from Paul McGann, this ground-breaking film sets out to solve one of nature's mysterious phenomena: the Bewick swan's dramatic decline. A pioneering group of scientists and conservationists sets out to discover why we have lost nearly half the Bewick population in the last twenty years. Every year, these majestic birds make one of the world's toughest migrations, across perilous land, sea and skies. Somewhere between the harsh Tundra landscape and the south of England lies the key to their disappearance. We join extreme sportswoman Sacha Dench and award-winning wildlife cameraman Benjamin Sadd, as they follow the swans over 7,000 km, on a journey that pushes both humans and swans to the limits of their endurance. Cutting-edge tracking techonology and innovative filming techniques give privileged insight into the birds' hidden world, providing stunning aerial views and the personal stories of swans, Charlotte, Daisy-Clarke and Leho.

Life and Death in A Pond

January 1981 •English

An educational film about the life cycles of various types of pond life.

Birds of Oregon

June 2006 •English

Two disk documentary presented by Oregon Public Broadcasting about the birds of Oregon. Disk one is an overview of bird species. Disk two is an overview of bird habitats and the people working to conserve and enhance them.

Groenkijkers

December 2023 •Dutch

The Birders

February 2019 •Spanish

The film highlights legendary Colombian birdwatching guide Diego Calderon-Franco and National Geographic photographer/videographer Keith Ladzinski as they travel through Columbia, a nation that boasts one of the most diverse populations of birds in the world, to capture footage of rare and unique birds, some of which have never been filmed before.

Self-Contained Enclosure

Invalid date •English

Over the course of an evening, young couple Lauren and Jim tend to the daily routines that support and sustain them.

The Bee-Eaters

January 2021 •English

Peter is a socially awkward young man, whose only responsibility is to walk his nine-year-old neighbour home from school - over the heaths and green hills of rural England. As he makes a new friend in an ageing birdwatcher, Peter finds himself ensnared in a knot he cannot untangle.

A Bird of Africa

September 1975 •Japanese

A group of kids find interest in birdwatching.

The Big Year

October 2011 •English

Three fanatical bird-watchers spend an entire year competing to spot the highest number of species as El Nino sends an extraordinary variety of rare breeds flying up into the U.S., but they quickly discover that there are more important things than coming out on top of the competition.

Tawny Pipit

April 1944 •English

Jimmy Bancroft, a fighter pilot, who is recovering from injuries sustained during the Battle of Britain, and Hazel Court, a nurse, come across a pair of rare birds nestling in a field. After a run in with the army, and a couple of thieves, they, with the cooperation of the village people and the Ornithology Society, help the eggs to hatch. A wonderful look at life in a small village, during World War II.

No Man Is An Island

July 2014 •English

Urubú

September 2020 •Spanish

Tomás, a birdwatcher and photographer, tries to give his career a push by taking an impossible photograph: an albino bird never seen outside captivity. To this end, he drags his wife and daughter to the Amazonian forest.

The Winged Detectives

December 2022 •English

"The Winged Detectives" is a queer coming-of-age short film, which follows Reagan and her friends as they prepare for the annual bird-watching competition. Tensions quickly rise for Reagan with the introduction of potential new friends and the absence of a special team member.