Once I Counted Birds
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Rising sea levels, birds on the other side of the world and forests - all our actions are connected. NZ artist/amateur film maker, Cathy Fitzgerald, created this work from footage she took on a research trip in 2000 to Suwarrow; a remote, un-peopled atoll in the Cook Islands. Suwarrow is an important breeding place for seabirds including the rare Masked Booby. Cathy almost drowned when the yacht she and her colleague hitched a lift to Suwarrow on, was hit by a freak wave. Cathy now promotes ecological forestry in Ireland; converting her spruce plantation to a permanent forest using Close to Nature methods. Submitted by Cathy Fitzgerald, Ireland
October 30th, 2009 at 10:16 am
Lovely thoughtful piece xx M & H
October 30th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
Congratulations Cathy, Beautiful and thought provoking.
October 30th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
[...] on our environment you may be interested in viewing my friend Cathy’s new short film ‘once i counted birds’. This short has been entered in the UK Guardian Newspaper’s worldwide 1 minute to save [...]
October 30th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
A gem, inspiring and beautiful, well done Conor
October 30th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
Lovely film. It is a joy to witness your steps.
All the best.
October 30th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
Gorgeous. Short, simple and powerful. Thanks for sharing. - T
October 30th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
very gentle, wish it was longer. beautiful images too, well done, its really lovely cathy!
October 30th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
Lovely video, Cathy. I think its best bit is the message at the end. A lovely message about the sea sounding like your trees, simple but profound. I would love to use this liturgically someday. All the best for the competition.
October 30th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Loved your brown footed boobies, great work Cathy - its a winner
October 30th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
just back from busy, noisy town Cathy. Lovely to watch the birds and hear your gentle voice reminding us of what’s important in life. Beautiful
Anne
October 30th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
Beautiful film Cathy, and I love the title, congrats.
October 30th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
Thank you for that moment of wonder.
Simply and honestly stated.
October 30th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Great piece Cathy! Good Luck in the competition! Charlie x
October 30th, 2009 at 10:41 pm
Very, very nice. Glad you added your video here!
October 31st, 2009 at 9:37 am
Really beautiful pictures, sound and message, well done Cathy. Trisha
October 31st, 2009 at 10:29 am
Delightful Film dearest Cathy. I loved the birds and the trees in your
Wonderful film dearest Cathy. Please make lots more.
Love and hugs Mum xx
October 31st, 2009 at 12:32 pm
Dear Cathy your short film is beautiful, for the sprout into human
consciousness, the ecologicaly Beauty…
I share in facebook your film…
Thanks and light blessing
Salvatore
(olisticamente, channell youTube)
October 31st, 2009 at 4:45 pm
Very warm and beautiful piece Kathy. Congrats.
ALl best, CAroline
October 31st, 2009 at 11:45 pm
A delicate visual narrative in response to a delicate world; very much worth understanding and saving.
November 1st, 2009 at 12:14 am
AMAZING!! I do believe this video will be the winner
November 1st, 2009 at 1:59 pm
Hi Cathy,
great short - thanks, consciousness raising without soap-boxing….a tricky balancing act but you always do it so beautifully, you make listening to your heart easier.
Maria x
November 1st, 2009 at 6:15 pm
[...] you like it, do feel free to give it a vote here , if you have done so already, thank you! Voting continues until this Fri 6 [...]
November 1st, 2009 at 7:55 pm
I wonderful short film Cathy.
November 2nd, 2009 at 4:30 am
Beautiful and stirring short film. I think I’m going to watch it again right now. Great job, Cathy.
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:01 am
Congratulations Cathy!
November 2nd, 2009 at 10:44 am
A delightful, yet simple short film.
November 2nd, 2009 at 11:09 am
A visually lyrical and beautiful film which deserves to win! Best of luck, Cathy.
Aileen Treacy
November 2nd, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Nice touch, hope it helps to bring us back a little to nature and its beauty
November 2nd, 2009 at 4:48 pm
I’ve watched your one minute film several times and each time get something different from it. Really good. Best wishes, Pete’s Mum.
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:27 pm
Beautiful film Cathy - well done!
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Congrats Cathy…….. its a mini blockbuster!!
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:54 pm
Amazing how much can be conveyed in a very short time. Inspiring and sobering. Thanks. Judith
November 2nd, 2009 at 10:35 pm
Well done Cathy! Great to see those wonderful images assemled so beautifully and carrying such a powerful message…loved the music too! All the best in the competition. R.
November 3rd, 2009 at 7:55 am
Thankyou Cathy, from Hamilton.
November 3rd, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Cathy
The sound track alone just does it - just stare out your window at the nearest tree with the sound track running. Everyone should take this time for themselves and think about the background sound of nature that we just take for granted.
Oh yes and I do like the birds!!
Great work.
Alan
November 3rd, 2009 at 7:21 pm
beautiful Cathy, well done, Lilka (9 months old)and I watched it together. she enjoyed the close up shots of the birds while daddy appreciated the strong yet gentle message conveyed. A bit like the Simpsons that way, something for everyone. looking forward to your next movie adventure.
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:20 pm
Well Done Cathy! Lovely FIlm
November 4th, 2009 at 11:10 am
Short and to the point, but it says a lot all the same.
I still have that dream to visit the Cook Islands one day.
Thank you for sharing this story.
Mike.
November 4th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Its really marvellous how you convey such a strong message with images so soft, your voice sounds great and gives it nice atmosphere.
chris
November 4th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
the connection’s gorgeous
November 4th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
Cathy,
Jake and I loved your film.Lovely gentle energy from it. It reminds me of you.
Congratulations,
Hope you win!
Love from Aoife
November 4th, 2009 at 10:44 pm
Loved this gentle yet profound film.
Thanks for making it.
Elinor
November 5th, 2009 at 9:15 am
That is a lovely film Cathy, There is definatly a connection with the trees and the oceans, great grass plains as well. The birds occupy both and both are major components in our world.
November 5th, 2009 at 10:10 am
A remarkable and poignant work Cath - well done. To think, our beautiful birds may one day dissapear under the waves because of our folly!
November 5th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
[...] “Once I Counted Birds” a new short film by ArtLinks Director Cathy Fitzgerald is currently entered in the UK Guardian’s Climate Change film competition 1MinuteToSaveTheWorld. This new film incorporates old footage taken by Cathy on a biodiversity research trip to Suwarrow; a remote, un-peopled atoll in the Cook Islands, South Pacific, in 2000. Suwarrow is an important breeding place for seabirds of all types including the rare and very large Masked Booby; her and fellow scientist Rhys Jones collected data was later published in the NZ Forest and Bird Journal 2001 and the project was a jointly sponsored UN and Cook Island project. While the trip may look idyllic, Cathy almost drowned when the yacht she and her colleague hitched a lift with was hit by a freak wave. Her new digital camcorder was destroyed but her old Hi8 survived to take this footage. [...]
November 5th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
[...] have been overwhlemed by the response to my new film ‘once i counted birds’ for the UK Guardian’s 1minutetosavetheworld Climate Change Film Festival. Thank you all so [...]
November 5th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
Thanks Cathy.
These are stunning places with amazing wildlife. Although many of us will never get to experience them first hand, we will all be so much poorer for their loss if we do not take action now.
Kevin Hackwell
Advocacy Manager
Forest & Bird (NZ)
November 6th, 2009 at 1:24 am
A lovely piece Cathy. Liked your narrative, Well done. x
November 6th, 2009 at 2:00 am
Awesome film Cathy, Stella and I loved it. Stella couldn’t get enough. xx
November 6th, 2009 at 3:09 am
lovely work cathy.
November 6th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Extraordinary how the beauty of nature just stops you in your tracks. Well done Cathy! I want to be there now.
November 6th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Extraordinary how the beauty of nature can stop you in your tracks. Enjoyed the 60 seconds of tranquility - thanks Cathy!
November 9th, 2009 at 8:53 am
Beautiful - just loved it Catherine. Wished it was longer. What a surreal place. I hope it doesn’t slip away under the rising seas…
November 9th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Nice one Cathy, Fair play to you for trying to do your bit. Lets face it, we are all up the creek without a paddle
November 16th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
[...] to all who wrote in and saw my film; it didn’t get short-listed but it brought me a lot of comments and ideas for future [...]
January 19th, 2010 at 4:28 pm
Lovely piece of work Cathy. Very thought provoking. Love the soundtrack too.Best of luck in the competition, you’ve got my vote!