Prize-winning British author Helen MacDonald has had a lifelong love affair with birds of prey, particularly goshawks, as chronicled in her titular 2014 memoir. Goshawks are "magnificent phantoms"--endangered in Britain until recent years--who are often seen only during the breeding season. Filmmaker Mike Birkhead’s PBS-aired documentary follows MacDonald’s journey and her mission to bond with hawks, a job requiring patience and a "fierce clarity." MacDonald raised and trained a goshawk in the wake of the devastating death of her photojournalist father. As part of her continuing healing process, she follows birding experts into the woods, observes goshawk nesting sites, and selects one bird to train from scratch. Goshawks exist to hunt and kill, a process MacDonald accepts as an eternal and necessary part of the natural world. As narrator, MacDonald describes the trial and error process, marked by daily small gains as the trainer works to gain the bird’s trust, a feat requiring time and patience (it does no good to menace or punish a hawk). Although she previously worked in isolation, MacDonald now partners up with another hawk fancier, which helps draw her back to both the natural world and the wider sphere of human contact. A film that is as much about MacDonald’s quest as it is about the world of hawks, this is recommended. Aud; C, P. (S. Rees)
H is for Hawk
(2017) 55 min. DVD: $24.99 ($54.99 w/PPR). PBS Video. ISBN: 978-1-5317-0045-4. Volume 33, Issue 3
H is for Hawk
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