Nature Series

Wednesday, April 1, 8 pm
The Life of Birds
Episodes 1 and 2: To Fly or Not to Fly and The Mastery of Flight
(Joanna Sarsby, 1998, U.K., 99 minutes, video)
When it comes to nature documentaries, Sir David Attenborough is in a class by himself. He is the only superstar in this important genre of filmmaking, his first major contribution was the “Life” trilogy, which began in 1979 with Life on Earth. Today he is most famous for Planet Earth, which Block Cinema screened last spring. This spring we bring you The Life of Birds, a brilliant series Attenborough wrote and presented on the origin of birds and the wonder and trial of flight.

Wednesday, April 22, 8 pm
The Life of Birds
Episodes 3 and 4: The Insatiable Appetite and Meat Eaters
(Joanna Sarsby, 1998, U.K., 99 minutes, video)
Wondrous footage of birds eating, which, as Sir David Attenborough so effortlessly informs us, they need to do almost constantly because flight is so energy intensive. The BBC takes us around the world to watch everything from sap suckers and geese to artic owls and kestrels. As always with Attenborough his documentaries leave you in awe of natures great variety and hungry to know more.