The Messenger

Brightly feathered songbirds are earth's original musicians, but this urgent documentary drives home that their delightful symphonies are in jeopardy. The world faces a bleak possibility—that the sun may one day rise in silence. Aimed at both the head and heart, The Messenger celebrates these tuneful avian athletes, whose prodigious migratory feats span hemispheres and defy belief, even as it soberly explores the reasons behind their dramatic disappearance worldwide. Like canaries in a coal mine, songbird declines sound a dire warning about our collective toll on nature, which includes deforestation, urbanization, industry, blanket use of insecticides, and light and noise pollution—in addition to climate change. Gorgeously photographed, featuring stunning super slo-mo shots of birds in flight, this loving, elegiac film also celebrates the devoted conservationists who study and save these birds and are spreading a simple, powerful message: If we want songbirds singing tomorrow, we must change our ways now. (Mill Valley Film Festival)