To uncage a bird

In order to restore the locally extinct Scarlet Macaw in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, captive breeding and reintroductions of Scarlet Macaws have been conducted over the last 10 years in order to re-establish a self-sustaining population. This film records the natural world into which the Scarlet Macaws have been released, including 12 Scarlet Macaws released into the wild in February 2023, all captured within a few kilometres of the release site in Punta Islita. It further meditates on the moral difficulty of keeping animals captive for breeding in order to protect the species from extinction, the beauty of the natural world and the hopes and trials in the future of biodiversity conservation.

I should also mention that my documentary is entirely visual and musical. I wanted to tell the story and themes of a wild animal reintroduction and in a different way to traditional documentaries. I hope that it still, while abstractly through music and visuals, leaves the sense and reality of an animal reintroduction.

I work as a field biologist intern for the Macaw Recovery Network in Costa Rica, and all was shot in my spare time or while out in the field working.

Cameron McIsaac