WATCHING PEOPLE WATCHING BIRDS
DOKU | FILM | CINEMA
Germany 2026
92 min (DE/EN)
Directors: Ulrike Franke, Michael Loeken
Distribution: realfiction
International Distributor: New Docs
Politically urgent, serious yet humorous, this film follows people who are passionate about birdwatching. World-famous author Jonathan Franzen, the bakery saleswoman, the young team of ornithologists: they are all united by their love for a highly endangered species. Through their eyes and ears, we enter the world of birds – a world that becomes a striking metaphor for the state of our planet.
TRAILER
AWARDS
FESTIVALS/SCREENINGS
2026 —CPH:DOX / 11–22 March 2026 / Copenhagen /Danemark
Welt-Premiere: 15 March 2026
Screenings: CPH:DOX
Copenhagen: 15/16/19/21 March 2026
DOX:DANMARK Screenings:
KALUNDBORG:DOX: 11 March 2026
TØNDER:DOX: 12 March 2026
ESBJERG:DOX: 15 March 2026
THY:DOX: 15 March 2026
GLOSTRUP:DOX: 18 March 2026
VARDE:DOX 18 March 2026
HADERSLEV:DOX: 19 March 2026
VENDSYSSEL:DOX: 20 March 2026
SVENDBORG:DOX: 21 March 2026
HEDENSTED:DOX: 22 March 2026
BORNHOLM:DOX: 22 March 2026
2026 — 41. Dok.fest München / 6.-18. Mai 2026 /
Nominated for the DOK.deutsch competition and the VIKTORIAS
Screenings:
8 May 2026— Rio Filmpalast Kino 1 — 18 h (Premiere)
10 May 2026 — Theatiner — 11 h
12 May 2026 — Neues Maxim — 20 h
14 May 2026 — HFF Kino 2 — 16 h
2026 – Bergwelten Filmfestival Stans
3 June 2026 – 18 h – Kollegium St. Fidelis
6 June 2026 – 15 h – Theater Stans
2026 – Kinofest Lünen
6 June 2026 – 14:30 h — Cineworld Lünen
2026 – Biografilm Bologna
10 June 2026
PRESSE
„The documentary takes bird lovers seriously – sometimes in touching moments, and other times in whimsical ones. That’s because it tells the story of deeply personal relationships with these animals. Time and again, the tone becomes quiet and intimate. There is something universal in that.“ – Marie Müller / kinokino / 12 May .2026
„It is precisely in the seemingly uneventful passages that the film exerts an unexpected pull. Viewers may find themselves adopting the observer’s perspective, paying attention to even the slightest changes in the frame, perhaps hoping to spot yet another bird somewhere.“ – Jaschar Marktanner / film-rezensionen.de / 3 May 2026
“Watching People Watching Birds” follows the famous American author Jonathan Franzen and some lesser-known but equally passionate birders so closely and engagingly on their outings that, after seeing the film, you’ll look at the sky in a whole new light and suddenly hear birdsong everywhere. — riffReporter
“When they gush about their little darlings, it sounds like a declaration of love to all of creation. For laypeople (…), the film opens up an unknown world that begins right on their own doorstep.”– Ingrid Weidner / artechock / 7 May 2026
STILLS
SYNOPSIS
The number and diversity of birds worldwide is declining dramatically. At the same time, more and more people are discovering the world of birds for themselves: they all have their own unique stories that led them to become birdwatchers.
Looking through binoculars is also a search for something primal, unique, and true. In an almost magical way, this search seems to transfer to the viewer, as if one were leaving the cinema with heightened senses and entering another world.
Our film turns its gaze away from the birds and back to the people who inspire us with their love of birds and their devotion to nature. We also meet the world-famous author Jonathan Franzen, who says: “One reason wild birds are so important (…) is that they represent our last, best connection to a natural world that is otherwise disappearing.”
Humorous, serious, and environmentally controversial, the film uses cinematic images and intense soundscapes to paint a picture of a society in a state of crisis and upheaval. The film becomes a narrative of doubt and hope, life and death, staying and disappearing. And the birds become, in an intoxicating, almost eerie way, a metaphor for the state of the world.
CREDITS
WATCHING PEOPLE WATCHING BIRDS
Germany 2026
92 min (DE/EN)
Directors: Ulrike Franke, Michael Loeken
Director of Photography: Jörg Adams, Hajo Schomerus
Location Sound: Filipp Forberg, Andreas Hildebrandt
Editor: Sophie Oldenbourg, Guido Krajewski
Music: Maciej Śledziecki
Commissioning Editor: Jutta Krug, WDR
Supported by: Film- und Medienstiftung NRW / Der Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien (BKM) / Deutscher Filmförderfonds