LANGUAGE OF THE BIRDS

synopsis

Since time immemorial, people have been trying to understand, describe and imitate birdsong and translate it to their own language, perhaps hoping to learn to communicate with birds. This film which is told from the perspective of a future era after the sixth mass extinction of species is conceived as an ironic overview of the history of the attempts to establish this kind of interspecific communication. Through a series of encounters with musicians and music theorists, the film poses the question whether birdsong only serves a biological purpose or whether it has any poetic qualities and/or fixed rules. However, the often absurd effort to discover the secret of the bird language is motivated not only by curiosity but also by an unsettling desire to dominate.

“The main idea of the film is that of translation. I do not believe in an immediate relationship with the animal, our relationship is always mediated by third parties, technical agents.” — Érik Bullot

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Source: https://blogs.mediapart.fr/cinema-du-reel/blog/110322/entretien-avec-erik-bullot-realisateur-de-langue-des-oiseaux

biography

Érik Bullot (* 1963) is a filmmaker and a theoretician who authored numerous films that merge documentary and experimental filmmaking. His works have been presented at many festivals and in the foremost world museums. He teaches at École National Supérieure d'Art in Bourges, France.

more about film

director:	Erik Bullot
producer:	Elisabeth Pawlowski, Elsa Minisini
photography:	Eva Sehet
editing:	Agnès Bruckert
sound:	Terence Meunier
sound design:	Mikaël Barre
skladatel:	Arnaud Deshayes, Abril Padilla

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