The Messenger Flies Into Ingersoll

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Wednesday, 22 February 2017 06:45

Photo Courtesy @SongbirdSOSFilm Facebook

A special documentary screening in Ingersoll asks everyone to imagine a world without birdsong.

INGERSOLL - An award winning documentary coming to Ingersoll gives a bird's eye view of the struggles songbirds face in light of rapidly declining population numbers.

Director of The Messenger Su Rynard grew up listening to bird song at the cottage, and watched her mother log observations in their bird book. Later in life, she noticed the music from the trees was fading and began to wonder what had changed - what had made the birds leave?

It wasn't until she looked closer that Rynard discovered the birds had not left, they were simply gone.

"They're not around not because I'm missing them, or because I'm not there at the right time, they're not around because their populations are crashing. They're in the worst decline they've been in all of human history and it's not something that just happening here in Ontario, it's happening all over the world."

Spurred on by this discovery, Rynard gathered a film crew and set off on a worldwide mission to get to the core of the matter.

"We shot on three different continents," Rynard says. "It was both heart wrenching because everywhere there were problems, but the film follows people who are trying to solve the problems and understand why these things are happening. So in a way it was extreme because you have the problems but then you have the people who are really, really passionate who are trying to solve the problems."

Rynard consulted bird watching enthusiasts, environmental experts, and scientists devoted to the cause as she delved further into the mystery. Through it all she had a very clear goal to collect all that data, understand it, and bring it back to a level that everyone could understand.

"I personally don't have a scientific background. I'm interested, but I have no official training," she laughs. "So when I'm taking in a scientific topic I'm kind of the perfect audience because I need to understand it in a way that the average person can understand it. We found characters who are completely relatable - some of them are scientists, some of them are what you might call citizen scientists. Some of them are average people. We even have a DJ from Germany who is in there because he uses bird sounds in his music."

By the end of the film, Rynard hopes people will see that as humans we are in a unique position to help our feathered friends.

"I think there is a bigger message to The Messenger which I think people are really connecting to because the heart of the film really conveys this canary in a coal mine, this idea that birds have always been our human companions. They tell us of the coming of storms, they tell us of the changing of seasons. We've always looked to birds - symbolism in art, doves of peace - and now birds and telling us something again. And they're telling us about the state of our home. If their numbers are declining it's an indication that the environments that sustain them are not sustainable anymore, but we share that same home. We share the same environment. And ultimately the message of the movie is a warning."

The Messenger will be screened at Unifor Hall in Ingersoll on Thursday, February 23rd at 7 p.m.