Le Peuple Migrateur

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Le Peuple Migrateur

Directed by	Jacques Perrin, Jacques Cluzaud, Michel Debats
Produced by	Christophe Barratier, Jacques Perrin
Written by	Jean Dorst, Jacques Perrin
Starring	Jacques Perrin, Philippe Labro
Distributed by	Sony Pictures Classics
Release date(s)	12 December 2001 (France)
Running time	98 min
Language	English, French
IMDb profile

Le Peuple Migrateur (also known as Winged Migration in the United States and Canada, or The Travelling Birds in the United Kingdom, or The Travelling Birds: An adventure in flight in Australia), is an Academy Award nominated 2001 documentary film directed by Jacques Cluzaud, Michel Debats and Jacques Perrin (who was also one of the writers and narrators) showcasing the immense journeys routinely made by birds during their migrations.

The movie was shot over the course of four years on all seven continents. Shot using in-flight cameras, most of the footage is aerial, and the viewer appears to be flying alongside birds of successive species. They traverse every kind of weather and landscape, covering vast distances in a flight for survival.

Much of the aerial footage was taken of "tame" birds. The filmmakers raised birds of several species, including storks and pelicans, from birth. The newborn birds imprinted on staff members, and were trained to fly along with the film crews. Several of these species had never been imprinted before. Film was shot from ultralights, paragliders, and hot air balloons, as well as trucks, motorcycles, motorboats, remote-controlled robots, and a French Navy warship.

The film includes a disclaimer stating that no special effects were used, however, this is not entirely true. While it is true that no CGI was used in the filming of the birds, several entirely-CGI shots were used to augment the real-life footage.

One of the CGI shots in Winged Migration, in which an Arctic tern flies hundreds of kilometres above the southern tip of Africa.

The musical score by Bruno Coulais was recorded by several Bulgarian vocal groups in Bulgarian, as well as Nick Cave in English and Robert Wyatt. The vocal effects include sequences in which panting is superimposed on wingbeats to give the effect that the viewer is a bird.

The film is dedicated to the French ornithologist Jean Dorst.