The lady and the owl

28 minutes

The viral origins of the placenta

4 minutes

Ice birds

16 minutes

EXCLUSIVE

Norman, Norman

8 minutes

The mushroom hunters

6 minutes

A gentle stroll through an owl sanctuary might just restore your faith in humanity

‘There are many ways of being wounded, yet many ways of being cured.’

The documentary The Lady and the Owl (1975) highlights the work of Kay and Larry McKeever, a retired Canadian couple who dedicated themselves to caring for orphaned, injured and starving owls. From their home in Ontario, they could provide safe haven for up to 100 owls at once, serving creatures of varying sizes and needs. At first glance, one might mistake the couple’s commitment as a form of obsession with their avian brood. However, the Canadian director William Canning’s gentle film shows that deep knowledge and understanding underpin their humane care, right up to the bittersweet moment when an owl is well enough for release back into the wild. While the McKeevers are no longer living (Larry died in 2002; Kay in 2019), their passion endures in the Owl Foundation, a nonprofit sanctuary and rehabilitation centre that they established the same year as the film’s release.

Director: William Canning

Website: National Film Board of Canada

In the tug-of-war between mother and baby, the placenta is a life-giving referee

The womb isn’t as welcoming a space for a developing offspring as you might imagine. Indeed, from the moment an embryo is implanted in the mother’s womb, her immune system views the foreign body as something of an invader. Thereafter, the relationship between mother and developing baby is at least partially defined by a biological war over resources. In this clash, the placenta serves as a life-giving intermediary between mother and offspring, allowing for the transport of nutrients while keeping blood supplies entirely separate. With a surrealist-inspired touch, this animation by Diana Gradinaru for the Royal Institution of Great Britain traces the many functions of this fascinating, essential and short-lived organ, as well as its viral evolutionary origins.

Director: Diana Gradinaru

Producer: Anand Jagatia

Website: The Royal Institution

Experience the thrills – and major chills – of scaling a frozen waterfall

Nestled just outside Quebec City, the majestic Montmorency Falls reaches heights of some 275 feet – a full 100 feet taller than the Niagara Falls. During the long Canadian winters, cliffs beside the main waterfall freeze over entirely, giving the appearance of cascading water stuck in time. In this short documentary from 1978, two daring climbers (plus a daring film crew) scale the Pilier de Crystal – a massive sheet of ice sitting beside the main waterfall. The result is a thrilling – and extraordinarily chilling – portrait of human skill, athleticism and drive amid an arresting and imposing landscape.

Director: Marc Hébert

Website: National Film Board of Canada

How does Norman, a 16-year-old Shih Tzu, see the pet cloning dilemma?

Loving a pet is usually accompanied by a sombre and unavoidable truth: unless you’ve bought a puppy to accompany you through your final days or are providing excellent care to your tortoise, your dear animal companion will likely precede you in death. However, if you’re a dog owner who happens to have $100,000 to spare, the wonders of modern medical technology do offer a potential loophole. Co-starring the Canadian filmmaker Sophy Romvari, her beloved 16-year-old Shih Tzu Norman and the US singer and dog-cloning proponent Barbra Streisand, Norman, Norman follows Romvari as she falls into a YouTube hole on the promises, perils and prohibitive cost of pet cloning. Bittersweet and inflected with understated humour, this offbeat short debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in 2018.

Director: Sophy Romvari

‘Observe everything’: Neil Gaiman’s celebration of culture’s journey from science to knowledge

Some mushrooms will kill you,
while some will show you gods
and some will feed the hunger in our bellies. Identify.

The UK-born writer Neil Gaiman wrote the poem ‘The Mushroom Hunters’ for an event held in Brooklyn in 2017 to celebrate ‘great scientists and scientific discoveries’. In this animated adaptation of the poem performed by his wife, the American musician and artist Amanda Palmer, its themes of inherited wisdom, female power and humanity’s irrepressible pursuit of knowledge are visualised in striking watercolours to offer a richly imagined perspective on the relationship between science and culture.

Via Open Culture

Director: Caroline Rudge

Producer: Alexandra Casswell Becker

Writer: Neil Gaiman

Website: Creative Connection Animation Studio

A gentle stroll through an owl sanctuary might just restore your faith in humanity

‘There are many ways of being wounded, yet many ways of being cured.’

The documentary The Lady and the Owl (1975) highlights the work of Kay and Larry McKeever, a retired Canadian couple who dedicated themselves to caring for orphaned, injured and starving owls. From their home in Ontario, they could provide safe haven for up to 100 owls at once, serving creatures of varying sizes and needs. At first glance, one might mistake the couple’s commitment as a form of obsession with their avian brood. However, the Canadian director William Canning’s gentle film shows that deep knowledge and understanding underpin their humane care, right up to the bittersweet moment when an owl is well enough for release back into the wild. While the McKeevers are no longer living (Larry died in 2002; Kay in 2019), their passion endures in the Owl Foundation, a nonprofit sanctuary and rehabilitation centre that they established the same year as the film’s release.

Director: William Canning

Website: National Film Board of Canada

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