ORNITHOLOGY is a documentary that explores the mystery of birdsong in New York City via its 350 species of birds and its musical and lyrical connection with jazz music and performance, rooted within the city’s legendary venues and jazz history.
ORNITHOLOGY - This documentary will tell the story of New York City soundscapes through the approach of ornithology, the study of birds and birdsong, as they relate to jazz music, performance, and jazz history of the city. The film explores, side by side, two distinct yet lyrically mysterious and prolific types of music-making characters, birds and jazz musicians. The documentary will weave together 4 narrative trajectories that will intersect together throughout the film: 1) the introduction and exploration of birdsong and jazz music, 2) the examination of bird species and musicians on an singular, musical level; 3) birds and musicians as collective, social groups creating larger musical communities, and 4) the urban and environmental locations in which they are rooted within the city, which New York residents visit in order to listen to and preserve these two music-making collectives.
Marina Grozdanova is an independent filmmaker and researcher and scholar. She is a graduate of the International Master’s Program in Audiovisual and Cinema Studies, which she completed at the University of Montreal, La Sorbonne Nouvelle and Paris X Nanterre-La Défense. In 2012, she co-founded with her sister the independent production company El Jinete Films. She is the co-director and co-producer of “Ortigueira: Ecos de Finis Terrae (2013). El Jinete Films’ second feature documentary “The Last Kamikazis of Heavy Metal’ (2014) successfully toured the film festival circuit in North and South America, and released through Vimeo on Demand. Her other work includes the short documentaries “Bajo Tierra” (2016) which screened in the Cannes Short Film Corner and “Yokazo” (2018) which screened at the Yamato Film Festival in Japan. She currently resides in Brooklyn, and recently completed her first narrative feature “Eastern Western” shot in Montana state and recipient of the Big Sky Film Grant. It premiered at Mill Valley. She is currently in the research and development stage for the script for her second feature “After the Rain”.
