BEE STORIES: THREATENED BEAUTY
THE POLLINATORS
Have you ever intently watched bees? They have stories, both beautiful and tragic. Filmmaker Peter Nelson follows the arc of their stories from both an intimate and global perspective in his new film, “The Pollinators.”
Featured this year at the 20th annual Woodstock Film Festival, this breathtaking documentary brings us close to a group of migratory beekeepers and their bees as they make the rounds at local farms during the growing season, pollinating plants and trees at each opportunity.
Our complex food system is almost totally dependent on the work of honey bees. And now, we are all at risk of dying because they are dying in record numbers due to parasites, pesticides, poor nutrition, and habitat loss.
The production began with the massive almond pollination in California, followed by apples, blueberries and other crops. It finished with the cranberry harvest in Massachusetts and honey harvest in South Dakota. Along the way, Nelson witnessed the poisoning of hundreds of beehives by careless pesticide applications, saw wild lands essential to a robust bee population that had been repurposed for corn and soy monoculture farming and witnessed how changing climate dynamics affect the delivery of bees into orchards and fields.
Nelson, himself a beekeeper in the Hudson Valley of New York State, is on a mission to make us see that the story of the honey bee is personal to us and critical to all humanity. He talks with farmers, scientists, chefs, economists, and academics (many from the Hudson Valley) who lay out the facts so clearly that we cannot turn away or pretend it doesn’t matter.
Beekeepers Dave Hackenberg and Bret Adee, along with scientific researcher Susan Kegley, environmental activist Bill McKibben, and farm-to-table master chef Dan Barber share their perspectives and their warnings. In an alarming increase in the rate of hive failure, now as much as 60% each year, our own food supply is diminishing.
But all is not inevitable doom. The film points out that a solution is possible if we take a conscious approach to caring for these beautiful buzzing creatures.
Beekeepers have been working to split and create new hives out of older ones in order to maintain the numbers of hives they need for pollination, but this is not a sustainable approach. They are desperate for other solutions.
The stunning cinematography in Nelson’s debut film is a testament to his 27-year career as a director of photography, with a diverse body of work, including documentaries, feature films and commercials. It is also a testament to his love of bees, food, and our natural world. He never gets tired of watching them and he makes sure we don’t either.
Nelson’s select feature credits include the Emmy Award-winning documentary Art & Copy, Michael Moore’s Sicko, Pipe Dream, and the cult New York romantic comedy Ed’s Next Move. Nelson’s documentary work has also been featured on PBS, HBO, National Geographic, Discovery, and the BBC. And, check out Nelson’s short film, Dance of the Honey Bee.
Founded in 2000 as a grassroots arts organization driven by the sheer love of film and community, the Woodstock Film Festival has grown into one of the premiere independent film festivals in the US, bringing together thousands of filmmakers and film lovers over the years. This year, we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Woodstock Film Festival, the 50th anniversary of the legendary Woodstock Festival, as well as the 100th anniversary of Woodstock as America’s oldest colony of the arts.
Actor Paul Rudd calls the Festival "a great festival... what a film festival should be, which is really independent films and showcasing the work of filmmakers you might not know about.”
Read more Beautiful Stories in film featured at the Woodstock Film Festival in our weeklong series.
And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Wellness, Impact, Nature/Science, Food, Arts/Design, and Travel, Daily Fix posts.
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