Like every year, the ‘Pajareros Documentary Film Series’, organized by SEO/BirdLife and La Casa Encendida, arrives in Madrid in the month of October. They can be seen as always in Madrid and this time it will be the first edition to be held in Santander.
The eleventh edition of the Pajareros documentary film serieswho organize SEO/BirdLife and La Casa Encendida by Fundación Montemadrid. An event faithfully attended by an audience dedicated not only to the pleasure of observing birds and nature, but also to listening to their sounds and the landscapes they inhabit, as well as the voices of scientists and conservationists who dedicate life to filmmaking. , dissemination, study and defense of biodiversity and the ornithological world.
Inauguration of the Pajareros documentary film series
The film series opens with the documentary Birdsongby Irish Kathleen Harris, which shows the experience of ornithologist Seán Ronayne, who is on a mission to record the sounds of all species in his country, Ireland. To do this, you will travel through some of the most beautiful places on the island. With a hypersensitivity to sound that sometimes becomes an obstacle and sometimes a strength, Seán undertakes a journey, both inspiring and educational, that illustrates the beauty and importance of soundand what listening can tell us about the state of our natural world.
After the screening, an auditory experience will take place, developed by Catalan sound recordist Eloísa Matheu, who will convey her special soundscape to the audience. So much Matheu and Ronayne will participate in a next colloquiumwho will be accompanied by Júlia Moya, who will include in the debate the potential of nature and the SEO/BirdLife work with neurodivergent people.
In the second session, the audience will have the opportunity to travel to the remote Canary Island of Alegranza. It will be through the documentary Guardians of the wind ̶ peninsula premiere ̶, directed by Juan Luis Santos and starring biologist Laura Gangoso, dedicated to research on the Eleonor falcon population in this space. Through more than 17 years of research, Gangoso has discovered that Alegranza falcons are synchronized with the trade winds, on which they depend for survival. His work links chicken survival to changes in wind patterns on a global scale. convert them into bioindicators of climate change. Both will share a subsequent debate with Jorge Orueta, coordinator of Species Conservation at the environmental organization.
On the third day of the cycle, three documentaries (national premieres) will be shown, opening the session Broken wings (Alas rotas), the Jorik Dozy y Sil van der Woerda short film (7 minutes) with a powerful soundtrack by Ludovico Einaudi that reveals the untold story of bird poaching in Southeast Asia. The second band, The Rock Calls (The Rock Flames), by Kitty Fixenlands on a small volcanic island in the Mediterranean Sea, 160 kilometers off the coast of Sicily, where countless shearwaters come to nest every year. Against the backdrop of a local tradition of collecting and eating seabird eggs, an ornithologist joins the colony to save it. Can nature conservation and tradition coexist?
The last appointment is with Light from Texas, American documentary that bears the seal of prestige Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. The skies above Texas have been home to an extraordinary natural phenomenon: bird migration. These brave travelers travel long distances, guided in part by the heavenly bodies and the Earth’s magnetic field.
Howevercities and their light pollution They have a disturbing impact on birds, affecting their navigational instincts. Without a doubt, the most important thing is the collective efforts of conservation organizations, government agencies and the private sector to achieve a profound reduction in light pollution.
A new edition that is as unique as it is educational
“This new edition of Pajareros,” says Josefina Maestre, coordinator of the cycle, brings us closer island ecosystems with great peculiarity and their special conditions for the survival of marine species, focusing on the efforts of scientists and conservationists to understand their ecology and save them from threats. It also introduces us to the world of soundscapes and imbues us with the sensitivity and fantastic perception of the recorders. We hope that these assets will convince the audience as much as they convinced the team responsible for selecting the programming.”
“Like every year Pajareros takes us into the world of birds with its special beauties and teachings, remembers Elisa Hernandez de Pablo, Environment and Sustainable Development Coordinator at the Montemadrid Foundation. This year we gather to learn how they survive despite the many threats we allow them to live with, such as pollution, climate change or species trafficking. We can be excited about the work of conservation and science professionals who are joining forces to protect and better understand the natural environment we share with them.
Program
October 9, 6:00 PM (Madrid) – October 12, 7:00 PM (Santander)
Birdsong, subtitled OV.
Ireland, 52 min, 2024. True films. Directed by Kathleen Harris.
Synopsis
He Irish ornithologist Seán Ronayne is on a mission to record the sounds of all bird species in his country, which number almost 200. Often accompanied by his partner Alba, Seán travels to some of the most beautiful and remote places in the country to capture their species and collaborate with the most elusive soundscapes: the busy seabird colony of Skellig Michael; a native forest free from traffic noise in the Burren; the corncrake stronghold of Tory Island; a lonely nest in the highlands of Donegal…
During this wonderful adventure we meet Seán, whose hypersensitivity to sound sometimes proves to be an obstacle, while on other occasions it becomes his greatest strength. Are journey, both inspiring and humbling, illustrates the beauty and importance of soundand what listening can tell us about the state of our natural world.
Eloísa Matheu’s soundscape
10 minutes
Sound experience conducted by biologist and sound recordist Eloísa Matheu.
Intervening in the debate:
-Seán Ronayne (from Ireland), main character of Birdsong.
-Eloísa Matheu, biologist and nature sound recordist.
-Júlia Moya, SEO/BirdLife Education Program technician.
Moderator: Josefina Maestre, coordinator of the Pajareros Cycle (SEO/BirdLife).
October 16, 6:00 PM (Madrid) – October 19, 7:00 PM (Santander)
Guardians of the wind
Spain, 2023, 77 min. Terra Incognita documents. Directed by Juan Luis Santos.
Synopsis
Sentinels of the Wind follows a campaign from Laura Gangoso’s studioa biologist dedicated to researching the falcon population of Eleonor de Alegranza, a remote island north of the Canary Islands.
Over more than 17 years of research into this population, Laura has discovered that the Alegranza falcons are synchronized with the trade winds, on which they depend for survival. His work concerns the Survival of chickens with changes in wind patterns on a global scalemaking them bioindicators of climate change.
Immediately cinematic photography and moving storiesthis film is a call to action to protect and preserve an ecosystem so small, yet so rich as the one found in Alegranza, and how changes in a remote falcon population send us a message about conservation can deliver on a global level.
Intervening in the debate:
-Juan Luis Santos, director of Sentinels of the Wind.
-Laura Gangoso, biologist and main character of the documentary.
-Jorge Orueta, SEO/BirdLife Species Conservation Coordinator.
Moderator: Esther Sánchez, journalist from El País.
-Luis Miguel Ruiz Gordon, director of photography.
October 23, 6:00 PM (Madrid) – October 26, 7:00 PM (Santander)
Broken wings (Alas rotas), VO subtitulada.
Netherlands, 2023, 7 min. Water bear. Director: Jorik Dozy and Sil van der Woerd.
Synopsis
Broken Wings is a short documentary film with a powerful soundtrack by Ludovico Einaudi Untold story of bird poaching in Southeast Asia. Forests are being cleared on a large scale, putting more than 1,500 bird species at risk of extinction. However, almost no one knows. The film captures the journey tropical birds make from the wild to the cage, and reveals a vast industry silencing forests around the world. This project lifts the veil on this illegal trade, which aims to bring about positive change.
You scogghiu calls (La roca llama), VO subtitles.
Great Britain, 2023, 23 min. Directed by Kitty Fixen.
Synopsis
On a small volcanic island in the Mediterranean Sea, 160 kilometers off the coast of Sicily, a huge colony of shearwaters comes to breed every year. They spend the rest of the year at sea, but return to the same nest with the same partner in the crevices of the jagged rocks to lay an egg. Set against the backdrop of a local tradition of collecting and eating seabird eggs, we follow an ornithologist who has joined the colony to save it. ¿Conservation and tradition can coexist?
Light from Texas, subtitled VO.
United States, 2024, 36 min. Cornell Lab for Ornithology. Directed by Daniel Sheire.
Synopsis
For centuries, the skies of Texas have been the scene of a extraordinary natural phenomenon: the migration of birds. These brave travelers travel long distances, guided in part by the heavenly bodies and the Earth’s magnetic field. However, our cities and their light pollution have a disturbing impact on them and affect their navigational instincts.
This documentary tells a story about redemption. Science, research, conservation and education come together to protect them: data from the meteorological radar network to better understand their behavior, the latest machine learning technology to reveal new information about the planet’s seasonal rhythms… But without a doubt the most important are the collective efforts of conservation organizations, government agencies and private sectors. Together they coordinate to achieve profound reductions in light pollution.
Intervening in the debate:
-Airam Rodríguez, researcher at the National Museum of Natural Sciences – CSIC.
-Yarci Acosta, SEO/BirdLife Delegate to the Canary Islands.
Moderator: Marta Montojo, journalist from the EfeVerde Agency.
Pajareros documentary film series
Dates: Wednesday October 9, 16 and 23.
Location: La Casa Encendida, Auditorium.
Time: 6:00 PM
Price: 4 €
Tickets available at www.lacasaencendida.es/.
The amount of the tickets, as on other occasions, will be allocated to SEO/BirdLife protection programs.
He Pajareros documentary film series It is an unavoidable event for anyone who loves good cinema and at the same time enjoys everything that has to do with birds, from their song, beauty and peculiarities, to the vicissitudes they have to overcome to spread the envy from one end to the other. to travel the planet.