Winged Migration

2001 Documentary

While practically everyone is aware of the fact that birds fly south for the winter, and return home in the spring, few are aware of just how arduous the journey can be. Jacques Perrin, a noted actor and film producer in his native France, decided to document this process, using flocks of birds who had been trained to ignore the distractions of his camera crew, and employing a variety of state-of-the-art technology to capture as unobtrusively as possible the flight paths of different birds from around the globe. The result was Winged Migration, a visually dazzling documentary that records the flight of dozens of different birds as they follow their navigational instincts and make the taxing journey to more temperate climates in the fall, all chronicled without the use of narration. The first directorial effort for Perrin, Winged Migration received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary. more..

Director: Jacques Cluzaud

Reviews

  • Stays in the mind, changing the way we look at the world.

    Mick LaSalle - The San Francisco Chronicle

    20 January 2013

  • It's not the enormous undertaking that impresses so much as the sheer ecstasy of flight and the ability of Perrin's team to catch it.

    Desson Thomson - The Washington Post

    20 January 2013

  • A magnificent documentary that flies us along with migratory birds on their intercontinental travels, it's the polar opposite -- North Pole, South Pole and all latitudes in between -- of modern feature films that rely on special effects.

    Joe Morgenstern - The Wall Street Journal

    20 January 2013

  • Mysteries still surround many aspects of bird migration. This film unravels exactly none of them. Rather, in some of the most remarkable footage you'll ever see, the film lets you look over the shoulders of migrating birds.

    - The Washington Post

    20 January 2013

  • The result is a movie miracle; it soars.

    Peter Travers - Rolling Stone

    20 January 2013

Awards

  • Best Documentary, Features

    Academy Awards (2003)

     
  • Best Cinematography

    Boston Society of Film Critics Awards (2003)

  • Best Cinematography

    Chicago Film Critics Association Awards (2004)

     
  • Best Cinematography

    Chlotrudis Awards (2004)

     
  • Best Editing (Meilleur montage)

    César Awards, France (2002)