Everyday Activist - The Messenger (CIFF 2015)

Posted on Thursday, October 01, 2015 at 04:00 PM

CIFF 2015 Review: The Messenger

Movie Review by Everyday Activist X CalgaryMovies.com

A friend living in Florida told me about his experience right before hurricane Andrew laid waste to his region. He said that prior to the storm landing, the environment was silent; not even the birds chirped. It was almost as if the animals knew something was wrong. Now think about about a world with no bird songs. What kind of environmental disaster would that herald? All over the world migrating song birds are threatened with extinction due to changing climate, loss of habitat, hunting, light and chemical pollution. The documentary The Messenger talks about these threats to birds and the scientists from around the globe trying to save them.

Song birds can fly thousands of kilometers each winter. Scientists in both the north and south hemispheres often care for the same song birds, which are identified using colored bands on their legs. In Cuba, I got to band bats that we caught in harp traps meant for birds, so scientists could keep track of them. We recorded the weight, sex and species. Watching this film, I saw some familiar techniques.

Countries such as Costa Rican have implemented strategies with local farmers to create a symbiotic relationship whereby the farmers restore some of the birds habitat and the birds eat the pests that threaten the coffee and cocoa bean crops. This also reduces the need for expensive chemicals. In Canada, cities try to reduce bird deaths by making it mandatory for buildings to have coatings on them to prevent birds from smashing into the windows and dying. France has passed laws to outlaw hunting songbirds. Unfortunately, with virtually no enforcement, hunters keep killing them.

If you've read my review on The City Dark, you know light pollution changes bird habitats for the worst. Sometimes the lights are so bright the birds become confused. In New York City, at the World Trade Center memorial, the lights had to be shut off because birds were literally falling out of the sky due to collisions with other birds gathering in the light beams. Volunteers on the ground picked them up and took them to a clinic where they were treated if alive and counted if they were dead. Like canaries in coal mines birds show us the errors in our ways. Now we're finding out the I'll effects of light pollution on people.

To learn more about what's being done around the world and at home to save birds CIFF 2015 has 2 screenings of The Messenger happening at Eau Claire Market Cinemas on Friday, October 2, 2015 @ 7:15 PM and Saturday, October 3, 2015 @ 12:00 PM. 

Calgary Local Scene Event Listing: Calgary International Film Festival 2015 >
CalgaryMovies.com's CIFF 2015 Coverage >