West Point
West Point, the hunting of the passenger pigeon, focuses upon John James Audubons 1813 description of the astonishing flight, and subsequent slaughter, of wild Passenger Pigeons in the woods by the Ohio River in Kentucky. Extinct since 1913, the once abundant Passenger Pigeon is emblematic of the destructive effect human activity can inflict upon the natural world. Part documentary, part natural history, part roadmovie, the film combines Audubons eyewitness account of the devastating scenes of the birds massacre with contemporary scenes of key locations in Kentucky, where the immense flocks once filled the sky. The town of West Point, at the confluence of the Ohio and Salt rivers, is where Audubon observed a vast flight of Passenger Pigeons, numbering over a billion; the birds continually passing overhead for three days in succession.
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