Documentary Screening: Where the Sweet Birds Sang

St Hilda’s College is delighted to host a screening of Where the Sweet Birds Sang, a documentary by alumna Sarah Teale (English, 1980).

 

When filmmaker Sarah Teale’s husband Gordon was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, their lives changed in ways they never expected.

But soon Sarah began noticing something disturbing.

Dozens of their neighbours in their small upstate New York farming community were living with Parkinson’s too. Some had been diagnosed as young as their 40s.

What began as a personal search for answers soon uncovered a troubling possibility: that the pesticides used on the surrounding farmland may be contributing to a growing Parkinson’s crisis, and that the companies producing those chemicals may have known about the risks for decades.

Where the Sweet Birds Sang follows Sarah’s investigation as it moves from the cornfields of rural New York to scientific laboratories, regulatory agencies, and ultimately to the United Kingdom, where one of the world’s most controversial herbicides is manufactured.

What she uncovers raises urgent questions about public health, corporate responsibility, and the hidden costs of the chemicals used to grow our food.

The documentary screening will begin at 6pm, followed by a Q&A session.