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Deauville (AFP)
The documentary “Birds of America”, presented on Saturday at the American festival in Deauville, draws a striking parallel between the drawings of birds by Jean-Jacques Audubon (1785-1851) and their disappearance following ecological disasters in the southern United States. United.
From the first sequence, the viewer discovers the gigantic oil installations of the Mississippi while a voice-over plays an excerpt from Audubon celebrating the beauty of thousands of New World birds.
Because Audubon, unknown in France but with a notoriety similar to that of La Fayette in the United States, has observed, listed and painted hundreds of birds, some of which have now disappeared, such as the Carolina parakeet, the woodpecker of ivory or the cupid grouse.
The naturalist, who anglicized his first name (John James), thus behaved like an archivist of the sky and of species which would gradually disappear as men took hold of the territory.
“Considered the first environmentalist in the United States, he saw the first industrial revolution take place. He witnessed the massive destruction” of species, explains to AFP the director Jacques Loeuille, 38, of whom it is the first feature film, which is said to be very influenced by the cinema of Chris Marker (1921-2012).
Thus, the Carolina parakeet was, for example, wiped out by firearms in the 19th century because they fed on seeds from shrubs and trees, especially in orchards.
In a journey between past and present, “Birds of America” also crisscrosses the banks of the Mississippi and sets out to meet descendants of Indian communities who had to go into forced exile, notably during the “trail of tears” (the trail of tears). tears, between 1831 and 1838).
The camera also stops with residents of “Cancer Alley” in Louisiana, where residents are hit hard by pollution from factories. The grim images of dead trees in the Mississippi Delta, where populations are also affected by erosion, chill the spine and seem a far cry from the lush nature that once delighted Audubon.
The documentary film is due out in theaters in France next March.
© 2021 AFP
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