BWFF: At the Edge

Part of the Third Annual Birks Wilderness Film Festival.

Peter Cairns will be presenting his talk - At the Edge, taking a deep dive into our relationship with wild nature.

For the first time in generations, sea eagles, red kites and goshawks soar in British skies. Beavers are reshaping rivers and wetlands. Wildcats prowl the shadows and wild boar rootle in ancient woodlands. Calls for the return of lynx grow louder each year.

We’re living at a time when nature is clawing its way back – or at least it’s trying to. But as wildlife rebounds, it finds itself confronted by a human society that has changed; a society that has long forgotten how to live alongside wild nature, and remains unsure whether it even wants to.

Against a backdrop of breathtaking imagery, Peter Cairns invites us to reflect on the animals striving to share our space, and the fears, misunderstandings and prejudices that so often define our relationship with them. At its heart, At the Edge is a story of reconnection – of how we might learn new ways to welcome back the wild.