‘The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill’ directed by Judy Irving, 2003. Rating: 9 out of 10.
This documentary chronicles a San Francisco flock of cherry-headed conures and the ex-musician who came to be their closest friend and advocate. The ex-musician is Mark Bittner, and his transformation from unemployed San Francisco post-beatnik to dedicated steward of the parrots is a remarkable story. His struggle to find a sustainable niche for himself in urban America nicely parallels the story of the non-native conures (they are almost certainly all refugees of the illegal trafficking of South American birds to pet shops). Each of the dozen or so birds we get to know in the film has more personality than most of the characters in a typical hollywood film. Director Judy Irving has done a remarkable job of finding and shooting footage to accompany each of their stories. More than a nature documentary, ‘Wild Parrots’ touches on issues of urban displacement (human and animal), and the gulf between modern life and the physical, natural world we overlook.
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