Though bird-lovers will cringe to see Snow Geese shot, hunters are presented objectively in the film as well, with their contributions to habitat conservation lauded. Of course, one can hardly blame the people of Brinkley for wanting to make a buck, especially when their behavior is compared to the ancient history of clear-cut logging in the area, which is described in the film, that destroyed the woodpecker’s habitat. Unfortunately, the anticipated ivory-bill boom never quite panned out, leaving Brinkley in its original economic situation, summed up by one citizen as: “We’ll work for dirt and we’ve found people in other places will work for much less dirt.” Like many small towns in the south and across the United States, Brinkley has faced more than its share of economic hardship of late, and the residents saw the search for the woodpecker as a great way to earn some money, selling everything from burgers to haircuts with the ivory-bill label. What I particularly liked about the 86-minute film was the focus on the community and people of Brinkley, Arkansas, the town where the Ivory-billed Woodpecker search was centered. Those who did follow the story to one degree or another as it played out will also enjoy the show, both for the chance to see the story retold chronologically and (relatively) objectively,* and because, odds are, at least one bit of information will be new to you. Those who don’t know about the whole kerfluffle surrounding the announcement of the rediscovery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker shouldn’t worry about whether or not they are prepared to see the film the director, Scott Crocker, does a great job making sure the history and controversy are explained. Photo by Damir Frkovic (Director of Photography for the film) copyright small change productions I must say that it was a pleasure to take a long lunch break on a Wednesday afternoon (don’t worry, I made up the time) in order to view such a well-shot and simply-presented film.
GHOST BIRD SERIES
Lucky bird blogger that I am, I was invited to attend a screening of Ghost Bird, a documentary film about the search for (and controversy surrounding) the alleged rediscovery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, which will be playing at 7 PM nightly from 28th April to 4th May at the Anthology Film Archives in New York City (2nd Ave & 2nd St) as part of their For the Birds series of films that runs until 5th May.
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