International House Philadelphia: Program Guide Fall 2013 | Page 29

A Walk Through H as it documents a passionate fixation. Part cultural history, part self-reflexive anthropology, by turns humorous and elegiac, The Birdpeople examines the pleasures and problems of looking and naming, and investigates the social construction of nature, centered on ornithology and its amateur counterpart, bird watching. Migration
dir. David Rimmer, US, 1969, 16mm, 12 min.

The Birds Friday, November 22 at 7pm BIRDWATCHING The Birds
dir. Alfred Hitchcock, US, 1963, 35mm, 119 min.

An experimental film haunted by a ghostly seagull, Rimmer’s film is a meditation on natural decay and the instability of the image. A Walk Through H: The Reincarnation of an Ornithologist
dir. Peter Greenaway, UK, 1979, 16mm, 41 min.

Celebrating its 50th anniversary, Alfred Hitchcock’s classic thriller about a small town terrorized by a series of bird attacks is the quintessential bird film, though bird enthusiasts might take issue with its less than flattering depiction of the generally harmless creatures. The film was inspired by real life events that occurred in Monterey Bay, California. The Birds remains one of Hitchcock’s finest works, inspiring a whole genre of animal attack films over the years. The Canaries
dir. Jerome Hill, US, 1969, 16mm, 4 min.

One man’s Hell is another man’s Heaven in what has been described by film critic Tony Rayns as “one of the best British movies of the 1970s.” A Walk Through H traverses a series of 92 maps—painted by Greenaway himself—that guide a deceased ornithologist into the afterlife. Reoccurring motifs of meticulous detail, the desire for flight, and Greenaway’s notorious alter-ego Tulse Luper culminate in one of the experimental maestro’s most fascinating and memorable journeys.

Jerome Hill employs a direct animation technique in a delightful homage to songbirds (and lovebirds).

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