Abstract
This chapter addresses the issue of filmic imaginaries of the human/nature divide by analyzing the fence in independent Filipino filmmaker Mikhail Red’s 2016 film Birdshot. It follows the consequences of a young girl’s decision to sneak into a Philippine conservation area and shoot a haribon, an endangered eagle of special importance to the Philippines. Though the film clearly explores ecocritical themes on the value of certain species over others, this chapter centers on the fence bordering the nature reserve in order to understand how humans and nature are co-constructed in the film. Focusing on the fence also enables me to address two intertwined threads evident in Red’s work: the organization of spaces set aside for exploitation and contradictory notions of “nature” propounded by the state. My analysis of Red’s filmic space and trope of the natural reserve border reveals that the logic of areas carved out for conservation involves a vexed life-or-death relationship between humans and others. An examination of the fence also crucially discloses how this relationship is connected to large-scale ecological migrations and the violence of landheft.
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Remetir, T.F. (2022). National Ecologies, National Properties: Unframing Human/Nature Divides in Mikhail Red’s Film Birdshot. In: Telles, J.P., Ryan, J.C., Dreisbach, J.L. (eds) Environment, Media, and Popular Culture in Southeast Asia. Asia in Transition, vol 17. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1130-9_19
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