Nature Film - The Nightingale's Song

As climate change threatens the future of nightingales in the UK, acclaimed British folk singer Sam Lee sings with nightingales to honour the ancient relationship between birdsong and folk song. Duration 47' mins.

The voices of nightingales have lit up the forests of England at night every summer for over a million years, inspiring generations of writers, artists, and musicians. But as climate change and development impact the birds’ wintering and nesting grounds, they may disappear from the country within the next 50 years. In The Nightingale’s Song, we meet Sam Lee, a folk singer who draws on an ancient lineage of traditional folk music as he joins this elusive bird in spontaneous mutual song. Re-entwining human voices with the creative virtuosity of the nightingale, Sam conjures a deepening relationship of care, stewardship, and love with these remarkable creatures and the living world we share.

Sam Lee plays a unique role in the British music scene. A Mercury prize-nominated singer, highly inventive and original arranger, folksong interpreter, connecting his passion for nature and song into timeless unique ways. Sam's career has spanned 20 years as an international performer, collector of songs across the British Isles & Ireland and curator of events and creator of live immersions including the annual sell-out Singing With Nightingales.

Filmmaker Bios:

Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee is an Emmy-and Peabody-nominated filmmaker and founder and executive editor of Emergence Magazine. He has directed and produced numerous award-winning films including: Earthrise, Sanctuaries of Silence, The Atomic Tree, Counter Mapping, Marie’s Dictionary, Isle de Jean Charles, Elemental, A Thousand Suns, and What Would it Look Like.

Adam Loften is an Emmy-and Peabody-nominated filmmaker whose projects havepremiered at SXSW, and Tribeca and screened at film festivals around the world. His work is featured on PBS, National Geographic, Emergence Magazine, The Atlantic, The Guardian, and The New York Times.