The Minsmere Year

This documentary follows various migratory bird species on their long journeys from their summer homes to the equator and back, covering thousands of miles and navigating by the stars. These arduous treks are crucial for survival, seeking hospitable climates and food sources. Birds face numerous challenges, including crossing oceans and evading predators, illness, and injury. Although migrations are undertaken as a community, birds disperse into family units once they reach their destinations, and every continent is affected by these migrations, hosting migratory bird species at least part of the year.

The familiar landscapes of Cornwall take on brand new hues.

The Bornean Tree Partridge, Chinese Bamboo Partridge, and Indian Peafowl are some of the most colourful, most beautiful, and rarest species of pheasant in the world. Native to Asia, they can be found at The Ornamental Pheasant Trust at Norfolk Wildlife Park, Great Witchingham where the Trust’s devoted founder Philip Wayre has set up a breeding programme to save several species threatened with extinction.

In the first half of the 19th century, the French ornithologist Jean-Jacques Audubon travelled to America to depict birdlife along the Mississippi River. Audubon was also a gifted painter. His life’s work in the form of the classic book ‘Birds of America’ is an invaluable documentation of both extinct species and an entire world of imagination. During the same period, early industrialisation and the expulsion of indigenous peoples was in full swing. The gorgeous film traces Audubon’s path around the South today. The displaced people’s descendants welcome us and retell history, while the deserted vistas of heavy industry stretch across the horizon. The magnificent, broad images in Jacques Loeuille’s atmospheric, modern adventure reminds us at the same time how little - and yet how much - is left of the nature that Audubon travelled around in. His paintings of the colourful birdlife of the South still belong to the most beautiful things you can imagine.

Composed of serious and funny musical scenes, an exploration of the virtues of translation and desire for communication between humans and birds. Told by a narrator from the future, after the sixth mass extinction, an observation of the attempts made to establish a possible exchange.

A homeless musician finds meaning in his life when he starts a friendship with dozens of parrots.

They hammer, drum and construct – meet the master builders and percussionists of the bird world – and their tenants, like tits, pigeons and squirrels!

While hunting, the Peregrine Falcon can reach speeds of over 90 miles per hour. During its aerial displays, it holds the all-time speed record of 242 miles per hour. It's not surprising that this powerful bird of prey has conquered the planet and can be found on the five continents. Worshipped, dressed up and trained for prestigious hunts, this powerful and beautiful bird has long fascinated us.

A veteran pair of osprey return home to a Connecticut saltmarsh. Over one summer they must battle their enemies, withstand the elements, and hunt hundreds and hundreds of fish, all to raise the next generation of sea raptors.

An encounter at Jardim Zoológico de Lisboa shot in 16mm by JMG+PP.

Stunning stories from the unusual life of the Ural owl, a mysterious nocturnal predator that can fearlessly attack even humans. Set over a period of just over a year, 'Fearless Queen of the Night' provides an extraordinary insight into the life of one of the largest European owl species.

"Without leaving his own garden, a man may know the world" - an abstract study of the wildlife found in every garden.

Some of the world's most majestic birds display delightfully captivating mating rituals, from flashy dancing to flaunting their colorful feathers.

David Attenborough narrates the natural history of hummingbirds.

The Common Ring-Necked Pheasants of Cornwall erupt into a medley of sonic sensations.

Behind the scenes documentary about the making of the two time selected film "Moonflower"

After a premonition of an unusual bird, a father loses his voice. His daughter undertakes a search to rediscover him, through an intimate narrative that explores the past, the new facets and the silences of a man who is no longer the same.

An excellent display of how humans can rehabilitate and restore an area where a heavy industry polluted the water so severely that it was unsuitable to sustain any kind of life. A a film showing how birds returned to an environment once devastated by industry. The lakes around the northern Slovenian town of Velenje, placed in the Central Europe, are geographic center of the film. They emerged as the land above the lignite mines subsided and the depressions were filled with water. The mines started operating at the end of the 19th century. In the mid 20th century a power plant was built that caused a severe pollution of the lake waters to the extent of the lakes not being fit for any kind of life. As a consequence many birds moved from these parts. After a long ecological restoration that started in the mid 1980s, life returned to the water. Gradually the birds returned as well, including some there were previously never observed in this area.

Cornwall's bushes unveil a bushel of birds.

Introduced by esteemed conservationist Jane Goodall and narrated by National Geographic's Bill Jones, this documentary focuses on what humanity has in common with other species. Wildlife photographer Todd Gustafson captures stories of competition, courtship, family, hunting and flight to illustrate the hidden life of East African birds.