''The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill'' is a 2003 documentary film directed, produced, and edited by

Judy Irving Judy Irving is an American filmmaker. She directed the documentary '' The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill'', about writer Mark Bittner's relationship with a flock of wild parrots. The film won the Genesis Award for "Outstanding Documentary Fil ...

. It chronicles the relationship between

Mark Bittner Mark Bittner (born November 29, 1951 in Vancouver, Washington) is an American writer. He is the author of ''The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill'', the book which accompanies the film ''The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill''. Bittner spent 14 years ...

, an unemployed musician who lives rent-free in a cabin in the Telegraph Hill-neighborhood of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

, and a flock of

feral parrots A feral parrot is a parrot that has adapted to life in an ecosystem to which it is not native. The birds are often descended from pets that have escaped or been deliberately released. Many species of parrots are highly social, and like to gathe ...

that he feeds and looks after. Bittner also wrote a

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiog ...

about his experiences with the parrots, which shares the title of the documentary, but has the added subtitle: A Love Story...with Wings. In May 2007, the documentary aired on the PBS series ''

Independent Lens ''Independent Lens'' is a weekly television series airing on PBS featuring documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Past seasons of ''Independent Lens'' were hosted by Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Terrence H ...

''.

Summary

Much of the film focuses on the parrots and their individual personalities and relationships with one another and Bittner. The flock is composed primarily of cherry-headed conures, but there is one lonely blue-crowned conure. Some San Francisco residents share the different stories they have heard about the possible origins of the flock. Bittner tells his story as well. He had come down to San Francisco from

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

to be a musician, but, after giving up on that dream, found himself directionless. Although he would occasionally do odd jobs, he mostly was more or less unemployed and homeless for many years, until he found some stability, thanks to a free place to stay, and purpose (and even minor celebrity), thanks to the relationship he developed with the parrots. The later part of the film depicts Bittner's preparations to vacate his residence, which is about to undergo extensive renovations. He speaks to the city council about the parrots and finds a place to send the few birds that are unable to live with the flock, and so had been living with him. At the end, it is revealed that filmmaker, Judy Irving, and subject, Mark Bittner, began a relationship over the course of making the film.

Aftermath

As is explained in the special features included on the DVD release of the film, about a year after Bittner left Telegraph Hill, he and Irving moved back, to a house near his old one, and he reestablished his connection with the flock of parrots, which had grown some. Bittner and Irving were later married. In 2007 the city of San Francisco instituted a ban on feeding the flock. The ban was supported by Bittner.

Production

Raising funding for the film was difficult at first, as Irving had to find individual donors, but the proceeds from a fundraiser at which Bittner gave a presentation to a packed theater allowed her to start shooting the film in earnest. The musical score for the film was the final project by

Chris Michie Chris Michie (January 12, 1948 – March 27, 2003) was an American guitarist and composer and best known for his work with Van Morrison. Chris Michie was born in Ithaca, New York in 1948 and moved to Madison, Wisconsin, when he was a teenager. ...

, a Bay area musician who was formerly the guitarist for

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

, before his death from

melanoma Melanoma, also redundantly known as malignant melanoma, is a type of skin cancer that develops from the pigment-producing cells known as melanocytes. Melanomas typically occur in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye ( ...

. The film, which Michie did not live to see released, is dedicated to him. Bittner noted that there is humor in the piece, which he believes makes it different from many other nature documentaries.

Awards

The film won the

Genesis Award The Genesis Awards are awarded annually by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to individuals in the major news and entertainment media for producing outstanding works which raise public awareness of animal issues. Presented by the HSUS ...

for Documentary Film and was nominated for the 2005

Satellite Award The Satellite Awards are annual awards given by the International Press Academy that are commonly noted in entertainment industry journals and blogs. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards. The award ceremonies take place ...

for Outstanding Documentary DVD.

References

External links

The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
site for

on PBS * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wild Parrots Of Telegraph Hill 2003 films 2003 documentary films Documentary films about San Francisco Documentary films about birds Documentary films about urban animals Parrots Feral parrots Environment of the San Francisco Bay Area Films shot in San Francisco Films set in San Francisco 2000s English-language films