WINGED MIGRATION

“For eighty million years, birds have ruled the skies, seas and earth. Each spring, they fly vast distances. Each Fall, they fly the same route back. This film is the result of four years following their amazing odysseys, in the northern hemisphere and then the south, species by species, flying over seas and continents." — Jacques Perrin (from Winged Migration)

Long one of France's most respected producers (Academy Award Winners Z and Black and White in Color) and actors (Z, Cinema Paradiso, The Young Girls of Rochefort, Donkey Skin and The Brotherhood of the Wolf), Jacques Perrin has more recently had a highly successful career creating films about nature, including Le Peuple Singe (monkeys) and Microcosmos (insects) and set in exotic locales (Himalaya).

Now with his penultimate film Winged Migration Perrin takes on his greatest challenge yet: exploring the mystery of birds in flight. Five teams of people (more than 450 people, including 17 pilots and 14 cinematographers) were necessary to follow a variety of bird migrations through forty countries and each of the seven continents.

The film covers landscapes that range from the Eiffel Tower and Monument Valley to the remote reaches of the Arctic and the Amazon. All manner of man-made machines were employed, including planes, gliders, helicopters, and balloons, and numerous innovative techniques and ingeniously designed cameras were utilized to allow the filmmakers to fly alongside, above, below and in front of their subjects. The result is a film of staggering beauty that opens one's eyes to the ineffable wonders of the natural world.