Once among our most spectacular birds, the ivory-billed woodpecker disappeared from the swamplands of southeastern America in the 1940s. Still, some diehard bird watchers adopted the bird as their very own Sasquatch and refused to believe that it was indeed extinct. When a kayaker claimed to have spotted an ivory-billed in Brinkley, Arkansas, some of the nation’s top ornithologists launched a yearlong expedition and ultimately upgraded its status from extinct to critically endangered. Brinkley instantly became a must-visit destination for birders worldwide, and it wasn’t long before the townspeople capitalized on their good fortune by touting souvenirs, haircuts and anything else that could be deemed ivory-billed. But what if the bird is extinct after all? Scott Crocker’s documentary taps into the science and eccentricities of the birding world, exposing the ironies of our relationship to the environment and each other.

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Photographed by Damir Frkovic (85 min)