“Revenge comedy The Birder features Canadian talent in a familiar place: The heartwarming indie flick about bird watchers was shot entirely in Windsor Essex, Ont.
The film opens at Princess Cinema on Friday after a weeklong run in Toronto and several film festival bouts across North America.
It’s about a keen birder and high school teacher who loses his dream job as an ornithologist at the national park to a young rival.
He teams up with a former student to seek revenge on the ornithologist in this comedy set in the world of birdwatching.
The main character of the film, Ron Spencer, is played by the former Ed and Scrubs star, Tom Cavanagh. He’s a tender, mild-mannered man who loses his focus in life.
His daughter Samantha, played by Guelph’s 14-year-old Cassidy Renee, is an avid birdwatcher just like dad. But she becomes frustrated with her father’s unwillingness to modernize his birdwatching techniques.
Writer and director Ted Bezaire said there just weren’t any movies about the birding community out there and he thinks this is a film people can connect with.
And while it may seem as though the film pokes fun at the devout birding community, it doesn’t.
The eccentric, quirky characters are portrayed in a lighthearted, affectionate way.
“Birders are focused people,” Bezaire says. “If you’re talking to one and a bird catches their eye, you don’t exist to them anymore.”
That’s why they make such an interesting subject for a film.
“It’s a lot of comedy with a little bit of heart,” he says.
Ron Spencer and his idle sidekick, Ben, played by Mark Rendall, set off on an array of seemingly evil plots against the young ornithologist that are anything but.
It’s only Bezaire’s second feature film and he says he feels fortunate to have attracted a well-rounded cast that includes well-known faces like Graham Greene and comedy legend Fred Willard.
Born and raised in Windsor, Bezaire went to the University of Windsor and then furthered his education at Sheridan College in Toronto. He’s been in Toronto working on short films and other projects for the last 10 years.
His first film, Things to Do, a comedy about a young office worker who visits his childhood home to reflect on the past, was helpful in opening some doors for Bezaire’s career.
Cast members including Renee and co-star Scott Cavalheiro will be at the première Friday evening along with Bezaire. The team will be available for a short Q&A after the screening as well.
The Birder will be playing at Princess Cinema from Friday, May 29 to Monday, June 2.”
“Indie Comedy About Birdwatchers, The Birder, premiers at the Princess Cinema” by Anam Latif from The Record. Source