March
2025
RTÉ's Birdsong documentary wins Best Story award at the European Wildlife Film Awards
RTÉ's Birdsong documentary wins Best Story award at the European Wildlife Film Awards in Germany.
Speaking about the selection, the Jury said: “A film about the love of birds and their voices, about a beautiful, rugged country and about the perseverance to achieve one’s own goals. The European Wildlife Film Award 2025 in the category ‘Best Story’ goes to Ireland for the film Birdsong”
Commissioned by RTÉ, the one hour documentary had its world premiere in 2024 at the Dublin International Film Festival, where director Kathleen Harris was nominated for the Virgin Media Discovery Award.
Producer Ross Whitaker said: “We never thought when we started this project that it would touch as many people as it has. We’re surprised and feel very honoured that the film is getting these opportunities. It’s a testament to the special authenticity and drive of ornithologist Sean Ronayne and to the hard work of all of the creative team, led by director Kathleen Harris.”
The Film was also awarded an Honourable Mention at the Jackson Wild 2024 Media Awards.
Birdsong will have its North American premiere at the prestigious Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Missoula before screening at a number of US events including the Capital Irish Film Festival, San Francisco Irish Film Festival, Emerald City Irish Film Festival and Princeton Environmental Film Festival.
Birdsong follows Ornithologist Seán Ronayne from Cobh, Co. Cork on his recent mission to record the sound of every bird species in Ireland – that’s nearly 200 birds. Often joined by his partner Alba, he travels to some of the country’s most beautiful and remote locations to capture its most elusive species and soundscapes: the busy seabird colony of Skellig Michael; a native woodland free from road noise in the Burren; the corncrake stronghold of Tory Island; a solitary nest in the Donegal uplands. Along the way we get to know Seán, whose hypersensitivity to sound has proven both a struggle and a strength. At once inspiring and cautionary, Seán’s journey illustrates the beauty and importance of sound, and what listening can tell us about the state of our natural world.