Le peuple migrateur (2001)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Directors:

Jacques Perrin
Jacques Cluzaud (co-director)
(more)

Writers:

Jean Dorst (writer)
Stéphane Durand (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

12 December 2001 (Belgium)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

Documentary on the migratory patterns of birds, shot over the course of three years on all seven continents.

Plot Keywords:

Bird | Arctic | Flight | Migration | Ocean

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

Philippe Labro	...	Narrator (English version)
Jacques Perrin	...	Narrator (voice)

Directed by
Jacques Perrin
Jacques Cluzaud		(co-director)
Michel Debats		(co-director)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jean Dorst		writer
Stéphane Durand		writer
Guy Jarry		writer
Jacques Perrin		writer
Valentine Perrin		idea
Francis Roux		writer

Produced by
Christophe Barratier	....	producer
Reinhard Brundig	....	associate producer
Danièle Delorme	....	associate producer
Jean de Trégomain	....	executive producer
Jean-Marc Henchoz	....	associate producer
Jean Labadie	....	associate producer
José María Morales	....	associate producer
Andrea Occhipinti	....	associate producer
Jacques Perrin	....	producer
Yves Robert	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Bruno Coulais

Cinematography by
Olli Barbé
Michel Benjamin
Sylvie Carcedo-Dreujou
Laurent Charbonnier
Luc Drion
Laurent Fleutot
Philippe Garguil
Dominique Gentil
Bernard Lutic
Thierry Machado
Stéphane Martin
Fabrice Moindrot
Ernst Sasse
Michel Terrasse
Thierry Thomas

Film Editing by
Marie-Josèphe Yoyotte

Production Design by
Régis Nicolino

Production Management
Jean-Philippe Avenel	....	assistant unit manager
Philippe Baisadouli	....	production manager
Olli Barbé	....	production manager
Claude Canaple	....	production manager
Jean-Michel Deroche	....	production manager
Claire Dornoy	....	assistant production manager
Philippe Gautier	....	production manager
Nicolas Mauvernay	....	assistant production manager
Boucif Mohammedi	....	assistant unit manager
Charles Stenhouse	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jérémie Apperry	....	assistant director
Elodie Baticle	....	assistant director
Emmanuelle Debats	....	assistant director
Marie Miquel	....	assistant director
Ursula Sigon	....	assistant director
Hadrien Soulez Larivière	....	assistant director
Frédéric Vignal	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Philippe Barbeau	....	sound
Michel Crivellaro	....	sound editor
Denis Guilhem	....	sound
Gérard Lamps	....	sound mixer
Laurent Lévy	....	foley artist
Armelle Mahé	....	assistant sound mixer
Gina Pignier	....	sound editor
Laurent Quaglio	....	supervising sound editor
Michel Trouillard	....	sound editor

Special Effects by
Nicolas David	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Manfred Büttner	....	visual effects producer
Erich Eder	....	digital compositor
Fabien Girodot	....	visual effects supervisor
Robert Pinnow	....	visual effects coordinator
Dina Saleem	....	visual effects
Caterina Schiffers	....	digital compositor: postproduction, TVT
Florian Schuck	....	retouching
Benjamin Seide	....	digital compositor
Max Stummer	....	digital compositor

Camera and Electrical Department
Jean-Paul Agostini	....	first assistant camera
Sylvain Bardoux	....	key grip
Pierre Bec	....	camera operator
Pierre Berthier	....	camera operator
Vincent Blasco	....	key grip
Guillaume Brault	....	second assistant camera
Catherine Briault	....	first assistant camera
Richard Brodet	....	gaffer
Pierre Chevrin	....	assistant camera
Dominique Delguste	....	first assistant camera
Jean-Marie Delorme	....	assistant camera
Alain Ducousset	....	camera operator
Jean-Yves Freess	....	key grip
Maxime Héraud	....	camera operator
Colin Houben	....	first assistant camera
Hervé Kern	....	assistant camera
Sergeï Lourié	....	grip
Sylvain Maillard	....	assistant camera
Benoît Nicoulin	....	camera operator
Lee Parker	....	camera operator
Christophe Perotin	....	assistant camera
François Perrault-Alix	....	key grip
Christophe Pottier	....	camera operator
Mathieu Simonet	....	still photographer
Piotr Stadnicki	....	first assistant camera (as Pierre Stadnicki)
Anna-Katia Vincent	....	second assistant camera
Yuan Zhang	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Colette Beltran	....	assistant editor
Pauline Casalis	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Isabelle Kostic Crosley	....	location manager
Valentine Perrin	....	idea

Thanks
Jean Dorst	....	dedicatee
Bernard Lutic	....	dedicatee

Production Companies

• Bac Films
• Canal+
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC)
• Commission Européenne
• Conseil Général de l'Aveyron
• Conseil Régional de Basse Normandie
• Conseil Régional de Franche-Comté
• Conseil Régional de la Lozère
• Conseil Régional du Calvados
• Conseil Régional du Languedoc-Roussillon
• Crédit Agricole
• EDF
• Eurimages
• Eyescreen S.r.l.
• Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen
• France 2 Cinéma
• France 3 Cinéma
• Galatée Films
• Les Productions JMH
• Les Productions de la Guéville
• Liliane Bettencourt au Nom de la Bettencourt Schuller
• Pandora Filmproduktion
• Primagaz
• Procirep
• Télévision Suisse-Romande (TSR)
• Wanda Visión S.A.
• Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR)

Distributors

• A-Film Distribution (2002) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Bac Films (2001) (France) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Nordisk Film Distributors (2003) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Distribution Company (2004) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Herald Film Company (2003) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Kinowelt Filmverleih (2002) (Germany) (theatrical) (distribution supported by Filmstiftung NRW)
• Lucky Red (2002) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Mongrel Media (2003) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Classics (2003) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2002) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD) (special edition)
• Future Film (2009) (Finland) (DVD)
• Nelonen (2007) (Finland) (TV)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD) (special edition)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Universal Pictures Finland Oy (2003) (Finland) (DVD)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (2005) (Finland) (TV) (two part version)

Special Effects

• tvt. postproduction

Other Companies

• SIF309 Film & Music Productions  film score recording

Also Known As:

Winged Migration (Canada: English title) (festival title) (USA)
Il popolo migratore (Italy)
Nómadas del viento (Spain)
Nomaden der Lüfte (Germany)
Nomaden der Lüfte - Das Geheimnis der Zugvögel (Germany)
The Travelling Birds (International: English title)
Travelling Birds: An Adventure in Flight (Australia) (DVD title)

Runtime:

98 min | Canada:81 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | USA:89 min | Argentina:92 min

Country:

France | Italy | Germany | Spain | Switzerland

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS-ES | Dolby Digital EX

Certification:

Iceland:L | Finland:K-3 | South Korea:All | Australia:G | Denmark:A | France:U | Germany:o.Al. | Netherlands:AL | Portugal:M/6 | Singapore:G | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:0 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:U | USA:G | Argentina:Atp | Chile:TE

Filming Locations:

Abbaye, Mont Saint-Michel, Manche, France

Company:

Bac Films

Trivia:

When the crabs are seemingly devouring the injured bird, it is actually a dead fish that has washed up on the beach.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: The story of bird migration is the story of promise - a promise to return.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Le scaphandre et le papillon (2007)

Soundtrack:

To Be By Your Side

Domestic Birds

I was quite pleased with this movie until I watched the "behind the scenes" featurette on the DVD. It turns out that most of the extraordinary close-ups of winged flight that make the movie memorable are NOT of wild migrating birds. Rather, the filmakers raised and domesticated all sorts of birds through a process known as "imprinting" so they would be comfortable flying next to the noisy photography planes. Then they took their birds all over the world to dramatic backdrops like the Sahara and Monument Vally. They also used these domesticated birds for the dramatic set pieces revolving around birds trapped in sludge, stuck in a blizzard, escaping cages, or wandering the desert. Not only are these set pieces heavy-handed and overly dramatic, but the fact that the birds are not even wild and were placed in these situations really undermines the credibility of the film.

7 out of 10 (minus 1 point for the use of domesticated birds and minus 2 for putting ridiculously staged drama scenes in an otherwise beautiful nature film)