Coyoteland

In true cinema verite style, filmmaker Jay April tells the intriguing story of what happens when urban development reaches into wildlife's domain. In three words, poodles become lunch. April follows animal trapper Louis Dedeaux who sets off to capture the coyote after a family's dog is stolen. While Dedeaux sets his trap, he is visited by the feisty, outspoken Lyla Popkin, a defender of wildlife. In the ensuing conversation, Dedeaux, Popkin, and April (from behind his camera) talk naturally about the issue of who is at fault here. The coyote, who is snatching dogs off what was formerly his territory? Or man, who keeps on building housing projects in wildlife areas? The victims here are the disappearing dogs and the coyote (who is eventually caught and shot, off camera). The film ends on an upbeat note with the philosophical Dedeaux musing on the rights of "all God's creatures." An award winner at both the Sinking Creek Film Festival and the U.S. Environmental Film Festival, Coyoteland is an absorbing and lively film. Highly recommended. (Available from: The Video Project, 5332 College Ave., Suite 101, Oakland, CA 94618; (800) 4-PLANET.)