“We have won our battle against Ortolan Bunting trapping and the phenomenon is basically wiped out from Les Landes.”
THE MESSENGERtook audiences into the fields of Les Landes, in south-west West France, to witness the illegal hunting of Ortolan Bunting, a practise that was decimating local populations. Now, the Ortolan Bunting will finally be off the menu in France! No other European songbird has declined as rapidly in recent years, with an overall decline of 84% since 1980 due to poaching and intensive agriculture – this, despite hunting of the species being forbidden by French law since 1999 when it became a protected species. Because the Ortolan dish is considered a cultural tradition, authorities had often turned a blind eye to the activities of poachers.
For the past 10 years, LPO (League for the Protection of the Oiseaux) the BirdLife International partner in France has been fighting this illegal practice on the ground, and also in the air, where alongside CABS (Committee Against Bird Slaughter), they have been identifying trapping sites and releasing the birds, before alerting the authorities. Until recently, these interventions were the only way to identify and prosecute the poachers, who operated with the blessing of local elected officials and hunting officials, and who claimed that the state “tolerated” these practices. Indeed the authorities wouldn’t file charges for installations of 30 traps or less. More on the practise and new developments in this article from Bird Life International.
The French Ministry of the Environment requested guidelines to study the Ortolans on a continental scale.
Frédéric Jiguet from Museum National D’Histoire Naturelle in Paris, (featured in The Messenger) partnered with other scientists from more than 12 countries across EU to conduct the study. He also worked in partnership with ONCFS (French Hunting & Wildlife National Office).
Frédéric Jiguet and his colleagues research work helped convince French Ecology Minister, Nicolas Hulot, to call for a definitive end to the hunting. This was followed up in the field with a high pressure from the police this past fall, so there are now very few poachers.
The main conclusions are that the numbers migrating by south-west France are estimated on average only 81,000 pairs (300,000 individuals including juveniles), with a recent decline estimated between -20% and -30%, while the overall trend of birds using the western flyway, or the eastern flyway, is a decline of lower amplitude estimated between -10% and -20%. The birds flying by south-west come mainly from Poland (probably 75%), the others coming mainly from Germany and Sweden, and also from Norway (where there are only astonishingly only 10 breeding pairs left) – so almost only from EU countries. The first pages of the report are a summary of overall results, then detailed parts on each techniques. (genetics, isotopes, geolocators). (see links below)
Andrea Rutigilano, an on-the ground warrior for CABS also featured in the film says, “We have won our battle against Ortolan Bunting trapping and the phenomenon is basically wiped out from Les Landes.”
Frédéric JIGUET sent us the links to this comprehensive research study about the Ortolan Bunting.
You can download the full Ortolan Bunting report in English at this link.
SongbirdSOS Productions Inc. and Films à Cinq are pleased to announce that our award-winning feature documentary THE MESSENGER directed by Su Rynard is taking flight in the UK. It is being released into UK cinemas, starting October 26th. This cinematically beautiful and poignant documentary is essential viewing for anyone who cares about the environment and nature. THE MESSENGER explores mankind’s deep-seated connection to the world’s songbirds and the devastating impact humans have had on bird species. It is an enlightening introduction to the global scientific research being done to further bird conservation. The release of the film is timely, as more than a quarter of the UK Birds are in serious decline. *
The UK tour of THE MESSENGER starts at Purbeck Film Festival in Wareham October 26, before travelling to Nottingham, Oswestry, Suffolk, Manchester and Liverpool.
On her drive to make the film director Su Rynard commented, “Birds are our ‘early warning system’ and this was one of the inspirations behind the film. Since ancient times we have looked to birds to foretell the future. Changes in the flights or songs of birds can signal the coming of storms, the change of season, or the dawn of a new day. A decline in the numbers or health of birds points to changes in the environment. Now is a critical time for the world’s climate and ecosystems. Birds have something to tell us, and I wanted to amplify their message.”
Screenings will feature guest hosts, including the Wildlife Trust and the RSPB.
Bird & Wild, a Bird Friendly coffee company is providing goodie bags at select screenings. Bird & Wild is one of the UK’s only Smithsonian certified Bird Friendly® coffee roasters and it is on a mission to help protect migrating birds and support the RSPB, while offering triple certified, great tasting Fairtrade organic coffee, one cup at a time.
Canadian producer Joanne Jackson says ” We are excited to be working with Nottingham based PIPOCA for the UK release. Sally Hodgson from PIPOCA has tremendous experience releasing films that make an impact with audiences. We believe THE MESSENGER will find an enthusiastic audience in the UK, because as any committed ‘twitcher’ or nature lover will attest, the sport of Birdwatching is a very popular past-time in the UK.”
The Messenger will become available on DVD in the UK in December and can be pre-ordered online now. Up-to-date details on screenings and the DVD purchases for educational or home use can be found here.
THE MESSENGER is a Canada/France co-production by SongbirdSOS Productions Inc. and Films à Cinq/ARTE France that has played on over 160 screens in North America and continues to screen for audiences in Canada, and the USA. For screening requests and additional ways to view the film go to https://songbirdsos.com/screenings/
It is the start of bird migration season, so we are watching the skies with anticipation and hope that our migrating feathered friends make it to their breeding grounds once again. This Sunday THE MESSENGER, our award-winning environmental documentary directed by Su Rynard is screening at Festival du Film Vert à Ferney-Voltaire in Voltaire, France. Sally Blake and the Films à Cinq team (our French co-production partners) are wonderful to work with! Thanks to ARTE France and all our other partners for making this film possible. French subtitled Trailer included in this post. French synopsis for the film below. We can all make a difference to help songbirds. Please spread the word about our film’s message. If you want to see the film or book it for a screening please check out the options and get in touch with us. Screening and contact options here.
The Messenger est une enquête innovante qui expose les raisons de la disparition massive des passereaux, et qui suit au plus près les ornithologues et écologistes dans leur mobilisation. Le film embarque les spectateurs pour un magnifique voyage à travers le monde, révélant comment les problèmes que rencontrent les oiseaux entrainent des conséquences accablantes pour notre planète, et pour nous-mêmes.
With gratitude, 2016 was a good year for The Messenger. 2017 will be a challenging year for our environment and the world we live in. We hope that the film will continue to inspire and inform.
Winner: Prix Buffon, Paris Science, Le festival international du film scientifique, 2016
Winner: Special Jury Award, Visions of Nature/Voices of Nature Environmental Film Festival 2016
Special Mention for Best Documentary, CinemAmbiente, Italy 2015
Winner: Best Environmental Film Prize, Festival de l’Oiseau et de la Nature, Abbeville Cedex, France 2016
Winner: Best of Fest, International Wildlife Film Festival Missoula, Montana 2016
Winner: Best Theatrical Feature, International Wildlife Film Festival Missoula, Montana 2016
Nominated: Best Cinematography in a Feature Documentary, Canadian Screen Awards 2016
Nominated: Best Editing in Feature Documentary, Canadian Cinema Editors Award 2016
Nominated: for Dutch IntL Science Film Festival NTR Audience Award & Youth Jury Award, 2016
Winner: Whistleblower Award Cinema Verde Environmental Film & Arts Festival, 2016
Winner: Favourite Documentary Feature, North Bay Film Festival, 2016
Winner: Best Conservation Film, Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival, 2015
Winner: Top Ten Audience Award, Hot Docs 2015
Recipient of the 2015 Carl Nunn Media and Conservation Award presented by Ontario Nature
It is a very exciting fall season for The Messenger. We have just come back from a fall road trip. We also just got word about two more awards and another nomination. There are over 40 fall screenings booked, with more pending, and we’ve had some new media coverage. We are now taking pre-orders on-line and preparing to release DVD’s and Blu rays, so our Canadian office is hopping. The full impact of The Messenger’s film release is certainly not known yet, but we know that outreach and awareness of the pressures facing songbird populations and the potential impact of bird declines on the environment is being recognized by more and more people. Many have said the film is ‘transformative’ for them. The potential for our film to make a real difference in society’s conservation attitudes is enhanced by every grassroots discussion inspired by the movie.
Being on the road with the film is exciting, encouraging and sometimes exhausting. There is a lot of prep work involved and we usually end up working 24-7, but it is really rewarding to interact with local audiences. We can’t attend every screening so we really appreciate organizations like universities, colleges, Bird Studies Canada, the film societies and conservation groups who amplify our work by hosting screening events and participating in Q and A’s.
Su Rynard with audience in Dominican Republic at DREFF
Director Su Rynard made a quick but wonderful trip to the Dominican Republic Environmental Film Festival (DREFF) in mid-September, then went to a special screening at Fleming College in the Kawarthas. (not too far from her cottage).
Film participant Michael Mesure took time from FLAP’s busy bird rescue work in Toronto to head north to Pefferlaw, with Producer Diane Woods to attend a special fundraising screening event for a wildlife refuge called Shades of Hope.
Social media and community outreach is critical for us to let audiences know about screenings. We could not do the outreach work we do without our subscribers and Facebook Fans support and the dedication of our screening co-ordinator Cayley James.
Cayley liaises with community groups and looks after a lot of the event details. Thanks Cayley!
At the end of September, I went to some Ontario screening events in Belleville, North Bay, Sudbury and New Liskeard. More about that under the mini-tour heading below.
More Awards
On October 11, at the Pariscience Awards Ceremony in Paris, France, the Messenger was awarded the prestigious Prix Buffon from the ‘Jury Bioversité’. The award was presented to our French co-production partners Films a Cinq and ARTE France.
After the film screened at the North Bay Film Festival, the audience poll voted The Messenger as the Favourite Feature Documentary.
Earlier this year we received the 2016 Carl Nunn Media and Conservation Award from Ontario Nature. The film was recognized because it “raised awareness of the mass depletion of songbird populations around the world.” Diane Woods and Su Rynard were there to pick up the award.
The Messenger is currently nominated in two categories at the Dutch International Science Film Festival. Categories: The NTR Audience Award and the Youth Jury Award.
Stay tuned to see if we have more announcements in November.
Mini-Screening Tour
Before I left to head out on a road trip for a Northern Ontario mini-tour, The Messenger played for one night at the fabulous Empire Theatre in Belleville. Jerry Archer from KX96 Radio moderated the September 26 event and I was joined by Peter Fuller, Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory and John Hirsch, Quinte Conservation for a Q and A following the film.
Then, on Friday September 30, I started the scenic drive north from the Toronto area. My first destination was Sudbury, and the drive up hwy 69 with the changing fall colours was spectacular. The Messenger opened that evening at Sudbury’s newly renovated Imagine Downtown Movie Lounge.Phil Strong, our composer and sound designer who is a Sudbury native was in the city visiting his family, so it was great he was able to join me for the Q and A. David Pearson and Chris Blomme from Laurentian University came out to participate in the discussion too. Thanks to Laurentian Film Studies Prof Hoi Cheu for setting up the sound system and bringing student volunteers to help with the event. A special shout out to the Giles and Strong family members who made it opening night and Lorraine Dupuis who put up movie posters for us.
On Saturday October 1, I participated in a panel with other industry producers at the North Bay Film Festival about ‘getting your film into film festivals’. The whole thing was streamed live on Facebook, so that was a new experience for me! It was very encouraging to hear the other producers talk about the great opportunities for filmmaking that are taking place in northern Ontario. Canadore College’s digital cinematography professor Dave Clement moderated the panel. If you scroll down on our Facebook page to Oct. 1 posts, you can watch it there.
On October 2nd we had over 160 people at the festival screening of The Messenger in the impressive theatre at the Capital Centre in North Bay. Moderator Adam Contant from KISS FM Radio, introduced me and the film. Afterwards Paul Smylie from Nipissing University and Richard Tafel from the Nipissing Naturalists Club joined us for a Q and A. We had a number of educators who made the trek out on that rainy Sunday morning to see the film, so thanks to them and everyone else for being there to ask such thoughtful questions.
When festival co-ordinator Holly Cunningham later informed me that The Messenger was the top audience documentary choice for the festival, I was a bit stunned. What a lovely surprise and wonderful way to enhance our road trip!
Final Stop on the Tour
Proud to be showing at the Messenger at the Empire Theatre in New Liskeard, part of the City of Temiskaming Shores
Although I have worked in the tv/film industry for over 20 years, and produced many hours of Television programs, The Messenger is just the third independent documentary I’ve produced. It is the first feature film I’m involved with to have theatrical release, so I was really pleased to wind up the mini-Northern Ontario tour in my hometown of New Liskeard. I still have family in the area, so it was wonderful to share the film with the local community at the Empire Theatre in its full theatrical glory on October 3rd. Drew Gauley of the Temiskaming Screening Room film society kicked off the event. After the screening we had another interesting Q and A discussion. The town is located in the ‘Little Clay Belt’ agricultural area of Northern Ontario and there are many farms nearby, so the issue of ‘pesticides’ and ‘free roaming cats’ were hot topics.
L-R Glenn Scott, Bruce Murphy, Joanne Jackson, Mike Werner, Terry Phillips. Photo by Sue Nielsen, The Temiskaming Speaker
The Q and A was moderated by Temiskaming Secondary School science teacher Glenn Scott.
I was joined by Bruce Murphy and Mike Werner from The Hilliardtown Marsh Conservation Centre and Terry Phillips, District Director of the Grain Farmers of Ontario. Prior to the event, we had some wonderful local media coverage too, thanks to a Twenty questions article in the Temiskaming Speaker by reporter Sue Neilsen and a Morning chat interview facilitated by CJTT station manager Gail Moore and Radio host Jack Morin.
Check out the commercial they made for the film! Just click on the audio file below.
More Campus screenings are currently taking place, and more are being booked. Find out where & how here. Educators and libraries can now order educational copies too. (with public performance rights) in the new Educators section of the Messenger’s website at www.theMessengerdoc.com
Special thanks to Mary Jackson, Darlene Jackson, Jennifer Gravel, Shelley Jackson and Patti Dubois (my sisters and sister-in-law) for helping to promote the screening and assisting me at the screenings.
Jennifer Gravel in front of the Empire Theatre
Thanks to Telefilm Canada for providing marketing and promotion assistance for The Messenger.
If you would like to contact me about the film, please email joanne@songbirdsos.com
