Canadian Screen Award nominee The Messenger, which explores the uncertain fate of songbirds, and was partially filmed at Western’s Advanced Facility for Avian Research (AFAR), will show this weekend at London’s Hyland Cinema.
Western Biology professor and AFAR co-director Chris Guglielmo will lead a Q&A following Saturday’s 12 p.m. showing.
Moving from the northern reaches of the Boreal Forest to the base of Mount Ararat in Turkey to the streets of New York, The Messenger brings us face-to-face with a remarkable variety of human-made perils that have devastated thrushes, warblers, orioles, tanagers, grosbeaks and many other airborne music-makers.
On one level, The Messenger is an engaging, visually stunning, emotional journey, one that mixes its elegiac message with hopeful notes and unique glances into the influence of songbirds on our own expressions of the soul. On another level, it is the artful story about the mass depletion of songbirds on multiple continents, and about those who are working to turn the tide.
The Messenger will also play 7 p.m. Monday evening with a portion of the proceeds from the screening going to the Thames Talbot Land Trust. Check out the Hyland Cinema for more details.
