Sandhill Cranes are some of the best-known, and loved, birds in the United States. Their tall stature and echoing calls combined with their close association with agricultural fields makes them easy to locate and instantly recognizable. But there is far more to cranes than meets the eye. These magnificent birds have been part of the North American landscape for more than 9 million years. They have also inspired a documentary film "Mating for Life," which focuses on a personal pilgrimage by the filmmaker,Cindy Stillwell,to witness the annual spring migration of the Sandhill cranes. She sees in the birds a metaphor for human transformation. "Mating for Life" is a meditation on nature and art, and poses important questions about our need for both connection and solitude.
On Thursday's AU we'll talk with Cindy Stillwell and crane expert Paul Tebbel, who is the keynote speaker at the Cache Valley Sandhill Crane Festival, Friday and Saturday, June 12 & 13.
For 11 years, Paul Tebbel was the manager/director of the Lillian Annette Rowe Sanctuary, owned by the National Audubon Society, in Gibbon, Nebraska. The sanctuary focuses on habitat protection for Sandhill and Whooping cranes, waterfowl and other wildlife and the long range management of the Platte River. He is currently Executive Director of Friends of the River, a river advocacy organization focused on the protection of free-flowing rivers in California.
Cindy Stillwell's work has screened at venues worldwide, including Sundance Film Festival, MoMA, Walker Art Center, and the International Film Festival of Rotterdam. Her short films are distributed in collections from Slamdance Film Festival, Full Frame, the Journal of Short Film, and FUTURE SHORTS. She teaches film production in the School of Film and Photography at Montana State University in Bozeman.
