Birdshot Trailer (2018)

Trailer for Birdshot.

A dramatic thriller with hints of American Westerns, Mikhail Red’s impressive film tells the story of a Filipina farm girl who mistakenly shoots an endangered eagle, and the larger questions that her actions provoke.

Maya’s father recently has begun teaching her to hunt, hoping to secure additional food for their family; having failed her first lesson Maya is eager to show her prowess. Wandering within the boundaries of a government sanctuary, she kills a bird, later identified by her horrified father as the endangered “Monkey Eating Eagle.” He knows the gravity of the situation. The often-corrupt local police, in a country where human life can seem expendable, seize on this event as an easy target to distract from their unsuccessful investigation into the disappearance of a busload of farm activists.

With striking atmospheric visuals and strong performances, this slow burning tale questions whether the killing of an endangered animal is equal to the killing of human beings.