Ghost Bird Screenings in the GTA November 11, 2009

The pursuit of the elusive, possibly extinct Ivory-billed woodpecker has generated worldwide interest and enthusiasm; Ghost Bird, a feature-length film screening at York and the University of Toronto Mississauga on Nov. 12th, documents the disparity between sightings and scientific evidence as birders seek a peek at this prize. Award-winning documentary filmmaker Scott Crocker will be present for a discussion following each screening.
November 12, 2009

York University
2:30-4:30, Price Cinema, Accolade East 102

University of Toronto Mississauga
6:00-8:00, CCIT 1080

Description:

The Ivory-billed woodpecker has long been considered the Holy Grail by diehard birders who refused to believe it went extinct over sixty years ago. So when scientists announced that the bird had been found in the swamps of eastern Arkansas, it was celebrated around the world as the rediscovery of a lifetime. Following the largest recovery effort ever undertaken for a lost species, and despite millions of dollars in funding, Ivory-bills remain as elusive as ever. What can explain the mysterious absence of evidence while sightings by expert birders persist? Ghost Bird brings the Ivory-bill’s blurry rediscovery into focus, revealing our uneasy relationship with nature and the increasing uncertainty of our place within it.

Scott Crocker is a feature and documentary film director and producer whose award-winning films have screened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the De Young Museum in San Francisco, and at film festivals and exhibitions nationally and internationally. Under Small Change Productions Scott has developed and directed films concerned with memory, identity and the narrative impulse. His documentary Boneshop of the Heart, on outsider artists from the South, received honors from both the American Anthropological Association, and the American Folklore Society.

For more information, see http://ghostbirdmovie.com/.

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