Can you imagine a world without birdsong? BirdLife Cyprus is organising the first Cyprus screening of the award-winning documentary ‘The Messenger’ on Wednesday, 7 December 2016 at 19:00, at the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation, ‘Andreas Patsalides’ lecture hall.

For thousands of years, songbirds were regarded by mankind as messengers from the gods. Today, these creatures – woven inextricably into the fabric of our environment – are vanishing at an alarming rate. As scientists, activists and bird enthusiasts investigate this phenomenon, amazing secrets of the bird world come to light for the first time in this acclaimed and visually thrilling documentary. Beautiful slow motion photography illustrates the power and beauty of these delicate winged creatures that have been praised across cultures and throughout time.

Su Rynard’s ‘The Messenger’ is an artful investigation into the causes of songbird mass depletion and the compassionate people who are working to turn the tide. Moving from the northern reaches of the Boreal Forest in Canada to the base of Mount Ararat in Turkey, to the urban streets of New York, ‘The Messenger’ brings us face-to-face with a remarkable variety of human-made perils such as hunting, light pollution, pesticide use and the degradation and loss of habitats along the migratory routes.

‘The Messenger’ is a visually thrilling ode to the beauty and importance of the imperilled songbird, a heartrending 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. Overall this visually thrilling film reveals how the problems facing birds also pose daunting implications for our planet and ourselves. For example, a German composer, DJ and bird-watching enthusiast, Dominik Eulberg incorporates bird-sounds seamlessly into techno music and introduces us to the use of birdsongs in Wagnerian opera.

‘The Messenger’ is being screened at international film festivals and has been awarded with the Best Conservation Program at Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival, the Top Ten Audience Award at Hot Docs and Special Mention for Best Documentary at CinemAmbiente.

Entrance is free of charge.

A reception will follow. Screening of ‘The Messenger’ documentary (duration 90’)
English dialogue, Greek subtitles
Wednesday, 7 December 2016, 19:00
Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation, ‘Andreas Patsalides’ lecture hall (86-90 Faneromeni, 1515 Nicosia)

The screening is funded by the Champions of the Flyway Bird Race which is organised jointly by BirdLife International and SPNI (BirdLife in Israel).