Birdshot is a Tagalong foreign language film that follows the
story of rural farmer and his daughter whom live beside a nature reserve in a small Philippine village.
The film follows the
perspectives of the daughter, father and a local policeman after the girl guns down a bird that turns out to be an endangered species from
the aforementioned reserve.
Birdshot highlights issues relating to endangered species
policies in Far East countries.
While additionally shedding light on systemic issues present in rural Philippine police services, which often lead to the abuse of power.
While additionally shedding light on systemic issues present in rural Philippine police services, which often lead to the abuse of power.
Synopsis
Father and daughter (Domingo and Maya) live in a rural Philippine village. They live a quiet life, tending to their farm and home.
Maya is a teenager and as of late has been finding it tough to
take on more responsibility. Her father is determined on teaching her how to be
more independent by teaching her valuable hunting, farming and harvesting
lessons. Her ‘education’ is going on slowly, which is frustrating for both father and daughter.
In an attempt to impress her father, she goes into
the woods to showcase her skills. However, as you already know, Maya ends up
shooting down a protected bird. And so starts the saga.
When Maya returns home, her Father recognises the bird and
quickly buries it. He explains that she is to tell no one and to forget what
she did.
However on the other side of the woods, scientists discover that one of the birds has gone missing and call the police to help them find it. They then find an empty shotgun shell and a trail of blood heading in the direction out of the reserve, towards Domingo’s house.
However on the other side of the woods, scientists discover that one of the birds has gone missing and call the police to help them find it. They then find an empty shotgun shell and a trail of blood heading in the direction out of the reserve, towards Domingo’s house.
The remainder of the film follows Domingo, Maya and the
police try to put together all the pieces of the previous days.
At the same time, Mendoza (a new police recruit) undertakes a missing persons’ case. But he is quickly taken off the case and thrown onto Domingo’s case instead. Where he is threatened to get a result ‘by any means necessary’ after disobeying orders and pissing off the police station’s chain of command.
At the same time, Mendoza (a new police recruit) undertakes a missing persons’ case. But he is quickly taken off the case and thrown onto Domingo’s case instead. Where he is threatened to get a result ‘by any means necessary’ after disobeying orders and pissing off the police station’s chain of command.
Important Themes
By basing the film on the premise of an endangered bird being killed, Birdshot allows the viewer to see how said poaching affects both the human and natural environment around it.
Killing endangered species is Illegal on every continent.
However, this has not stopped people all around the world from hunting them down. Yes, we have policies in place to protect animals, their habitats and their ways of life; but this has not stopped the trafficking of endangered species from taking place.
However, this has not stopped people all around the world from hunting them down. Yes, we have policies in place to protect animals, their habitats and their ways of life; but this has not stopped the trafficking of endangered species from taking place.
This industry makes hundreds of millions of dollars every year, especially in Asia. Statistics show that the Asia’s
the highest ‘appetite’ for endangered species (which is unsurprising as an
overwhelming percentage of the world’s population lives on the Asian continent).
This appetite has led to a huge industry booming
between African and Asian economies.
There are also other ways in which we are putting endangered species at risk, and one such example is our need for sand.
As a human race, our need for sand is immense. It is a huge ingredient when it comes to making bricks, cement, tiles and almost every other single building material that exists. As such, our need for sand continues to grow with the contrasting decline in sand from our oceans.
As a human race, our need for sand is immense. It is a huge ingredient when it comes to making bricks, cement, tiles and almost every other single building material that exists. As such, our need for sand continues to grow with the contrasting decline in sand from our oceans.
This has led to the wide scale depletion of sand which
has pushed those looking for the resources to moving into ‘untapped locations’.
Thereby destroying the habitats of many endangered species and putting them at higher risk of death.
Additionally, Birdshot focuses on a different
issue of police abuse in the Far East. This issue is highlighted throughout the
film and depicts just how some police services take advantage of their power
for their own benefit.
Over the past few years, the Philippines has received a
huge amount of international attention for police abuse as President Duterte has had the police kill tens of thousands of people under the veil of a ‘drug war’.
This had led to a horrible amount of police abuse across all the country’s provinces and districts.
This had led to a horrible amount of police abuse across all the country’s provinces and districts.
Conclusion
Birdshot is a great film. It is an excellent slow-paced thriller with tons of mystery.
The atmosphere the film creates around its characters and events is somewhat intoxicating. It brings you into their world and successfully tells a tale riddled with the unknown through the eyes of small family in an impoverished rural village.
The film brilliantly touches on endangered species policy
and juxtaposes it well against police policies and human rights.
Don’t miss out on Birdshot.
It’s quite the watch.
