DETAILS

Director
George Angus Doo

Actors
Eamon Colm
Gerlinde Taube
Natalia Paloma
Agostinho Pombo
Cynthia Offam (Human)
Derek Columbo (Human)
Winston Blackman (Human)

Screenings
October 1, 8:00 pm, Park Cinema
October 4, 5:00 pm, Park Cinema

Runtime
85 minutes

THREE minutes into George Angus Doo’s latest film, Shoot the Messenger, the screen goes dark. In the silence, the viewer is left to ponder what has just occurred: a shot fired into the brightly lit sky, the loud thumping noise that follows, the sound of boots running across grass and fallen leaves in the swamp-like environment.

When light and action return to the screen, we face six Humans at trial, recalling those elements from the witness stand. To his credit, Doo reveals little about the location of the court and the crime; the alleged perpetrators, plaintiff, judge and jury stand as EveryHuman or AnyHuman. But the trial is not an indictment of that species; rather, it is an examination of the complicated relationship between Doo’s own species — the Pigeon — and Humans. In many ways, as Doo said earlier this year, that relationship is “one of mutual respect and dependence.” But this film is less celebratory of that aspect than it is revelatory of the conflict, fed by ignorance, that is an integral part of the interactions between Pigeons and Humans.

The sportsmen at trial know very little, if anything, about the species they shoot at for sport. They have read no history and, therefore, feel no moral obligation to a species that has saved countless Human lives. As a result, they are puzzled by their obligation to appear in court and angered by the charges of wrongdoing.

“What kind of world is this now?” one of the accused asks aloud. It is not a rhetorical question. The world in which he grew up, he tells the court, was one in which shooting and hunting were respected activities.

“Now, what is it that we’re supposed to do?” he asks earnestly.

The film does not answer this question or any others; instead, it presents the accused and the viewer with even more questions as it explores not only the fraught relationship between the two species but that among Humans, themselves.

In this 2013 Winkie Award-winning film, Doo does a remarkable job of preserving the dignity of the characters while indicting and convicting the real perpetrator of the crime: ignorance.

Famous Park rapper Will.o.be. opened the first annual Beats of Burden Music Festival on Saturday with a tribute to The Park’s estivating population.

As the rapper leapt to the stage amid almost deafening cheers, he stopped to bow to a group of estivators at the front of the crowd.

“I’m as happy as everybody else is that The Park’s entire population is present and accounted for and ready to roar,” he said. Then he turned his microphone toward the obviously enthusiastic audience and exhorted them to “Roar! Roar! Roar!”

And roar they did, through his opening set, three encores and even when he was brought back to perform with the music festival’s founders, The Beasts of Burden.

“This is the most fantastic audience I’ve ever had,” the rapper said, and the Beasts’ lead singer Alfredo Ox concurred.

“You amaze me!” he shouted.

“If I ever get down on things…or think things are impossible, I will think of this weekend and the turnout that we’re getting and how much we care about each other in The Park. I know that the words ‘Thank You’ are not enough, but they will have to do for now, until we have time to write you all a song of thanks,” he said.

The Beasts then performed one of their biggest hits, “The Day the Oxen Rose,” after dedicating it to “the beneficiaries of this festival…The Park’s refugees.”

The Beats of Burden Music Festival continues until tonight. All proceeds from the festival (including related clothing and other products) will go toward aiding The Park’s refugees.