Hot Docs

What do you do when you walk into a room and see a falcon and a terrorist? Alan Howell Parrot is one of the world’s leading falcon trainers, with powerful connections in the Middle East. After witnessing relentless falcon smuggling in the wake of the USSR’s collapse, he left the Middle East and formed a global conservation group. Parrot is said to have many rich and powerful clients, even claiming that one of his connections went falcon hunting with Osama bin Laden, himself an obsessed falconer. Attempting to convey this information to government sources, Parrot has met with silence or obstruction. Intending to make a modest film about falcon smuggling, the filmmakers stumbled upon Parrot after encountering many obstacles to accessing this covert, mysterious world. Finally gaining Parrot’s trust, the film brings us into a wild world of international intrigue, where an exotic sport takes on aspects of a James Bond flick. - Sean Farnel