- A diverse group of full-of-attitude New Yorkers reveals how a hidden world of beautiful wild birds in the middle of Manhattan has upended and magically transformed their lives.
- Birders: The Central Park Effect reveals the extraordinary array of wild birds who grace Manhattan's celebrated patch of green and the equally colorful, full-of-attitude New Yorkers who schedule their lives around the rhythms of migration. Acclaimed author Jonathan Franzen, an idiosyncratic trombone technician, a charming fashion-averse teenager, and a bird-tour leader who's recorded every sighting she's made since the 1940s are among the film's cast of characters. Featuring spectacular wildlife footage capturing the changing seasons, this lyrical documentary transports the viewer to a dazzling world that goes all but unnoticed by the 38 million people who visit America's most famous park each year.—Jeffrey Kimball, Producer/Director
- The Central Park Effect reveals the extraordinary array of wild birds who grace Manhattans celebrated patch of green and the equally colorful, full-of-attitude New Yorkers who schedule their lives around the rhythms of migration. The film focuses on seven main characters who regularly visit the Park and have found a profound connection with this hidden natural world.
Movie-star handsome Chris Cooper dodges the morning rush hour traffic on bustling Central Park West, his binoculars knocking against his leather bomber jacket as he ducks into the Park. My friends mock me for what I do in the spring because they know from experience. From April 15 until Memorial Day, they wont see me. Because Im birding!
Anya Auerbach, a radiant fashion-averse teenager, admits that I take my binoculars pretty much everywhere except school.
Acclaimed author Jonathan Franzen recalls that he walked through Central Park almost daily for seven years, noticing only the pigeons and sparrows. Then one day, friends invited him to come along with them on a tour of the Parks famous Ramble section and handed him a pair of binoculars. It was like the trees were hung with ornaments. It was one of those rare times in an adults life where the world suddenly seems more magical rather than less.
One poignant narrative revolves around Central Park doyenne Starr Saphir, the bird walk leader whos recorded every sighting shes made since the 1940s. After discovering several years ago that she has terminal breast cancer, she says that time has a different meaning for her now. I have a great deal more enjoyment. I always loved what I did, but its heightened even more, because I know not only is it not going to last forever its not going to last all that much longer.
Featuring spectacular wildlife footage capturing the changing seasons, the film reveals that Central Park acts as a magnet for the millions and millions of birds migrating along the Eastern Seaboard twice every year. Desperate for a rest-stop, the tiny birds funnel in to this oasis of nature amid a sea of steel and concrete a phenomenon known as the Central Park Effect.
Tiny hummingbirds, tall herons and egrets, majestic owls, hawks, orioles, kingfishers, flycatchers and a vast array of wood warblers - the jewels of the Eastern forests - all have starring roles in the documentary.
Filmmaker Jeffrey Kimballs lyrical film transports the viewer to a dazzling world that goes all but unnoticed by most of the 38 million who people Americas most famous park each year.
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By what name was Birders: The Central Park Effect (2012) officially released in Canada in English?
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