Elizabeth Hodgson

Presented by Sunday Night Entertainment SECRET LIFE OF PIGEONS A O N E - H O U R D O C U M E N TA R Y BEH OLD T HE LOW LY P I GEON It cowerss even from the commonplace seagull when a half eaten bean burrito is at stake, too languid for a timely escape from oncoming traffic, they seem even to disdain themselves.If, in the human imagination, swans are the supermodels of the avian world, hummingbirds the prima ballerinas and falcons Top Gun-style elite navy pilots, then pigeons are the Rodney Dangerfields. How wrong we are about them. Behind the pigeon’s seemingly mindless doddering, pecking, pooping and plodding is a secret life and noble past. Far from an urban nuisance, pigeons are now at the centre of urgent research projects dealing with navigation, human health, brain chemistry, DNA and even our own evolution. It’s high time we dispense with the pigeon’s reputation as “dirty diseased shit-dispensing winged rats” and reclaim its former glory as war hero and keystone of Genghis Kahn’s great empire. The pigeon is ready for its close up. Told with irony and wry wit—and shot with an intimate and playful style—Secret Life of Pigeons is THE film to restore this bird’s faded lustre by telling the story of actual pigeons—from their perspective, entering their world, seeing from their eyes, following their daily routines. The film captures the overlooked uniqueness, complexity and intelligence of this common bird by investigation its extraordinary capabilities. You’ll never look at them the same way again. Contact:-| written by Liz Hodgson | July, 2014 1