Bay Area filmmaker Scott Crocker will present and discuss a screening of Ghost Bird, which The New York Times calls "a witty, wistful documentary (that turns) a bird-watching tale into a multilayered story that will fascinate practically everybody." In 2005 scientists announced that the Ivory-billed woodpecker, thought to be extinct for 60 years, was spotted in the swamps of Eastern Arkansas. Suddenly the swamps were flooded with ornithologists, birders and millions of government dollars, and the struggling nearby town of Brinkley discovered a promotional edge. However, credible evidence of the woodpecker's actual existence has been elusive, and Crocker's perceptive film balances the testimony (pro and con) of prominent scientists and bird experts with an examination of the seductive power of hope and investigation into the politics of our uneasy relationship with nature.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
