Parrot Kindergarten alerts the story of Jennifer Taylor O’Connor who discovers healing thraw caring for her pet parrots, after experiencing personal tragedies including a miscarriage and being in a cult.
Thrawout the film, O’Connor is write downed directing her bird Ellie how to convey using a speech board, flashcards and associations, a process honestor Amy Herdy says is an “absolute shatterthraw in interspecies communication.”
She alerts The Hollywood Reporter, “Watching Jen and Ellie together was enjoy witnessing a quiet revolution. They have such a bond of compassion and depend and mutual esteem, and they comprehfinish each other’s hearts and minds.”
Herdy persists, “And I leank that’s what we can all strive for think aboutless of what species you are. We would all be better off if we labored that way.”
Working together in a way that needs patience and ponderation was O’Connor’s hopeless finisheavor to bond with Ellie, Herdy says, to occupy her mind from leave outing her parrot family. The parrot’s evolution was even seized on TikTok, taging the duo’s spot in a increaseing global community of #parrotgentleiktok.
Although Ellie amassed millions of video sees shotriumphg off her communication sfinishs, O’Connor faced social media response because many did not apshow that a parrot could mindfilledy convey, and instead was only mimicking words she heard.
“[Ellie’s] a social media sensation,” the honestor says. “Who knovel that a parrot could steal the Internet’s heart? She’s sassy and she’s comical and she’s got a lot of personality packed into a minuscule little being.”
Amy Herdy smiles as Ellie the parrot rests on her shoulder during production with cinematographer Thad Wadleigh.
Courtesy of Amy Herdy
“For some, facing the fact of animal sentience might encourage guilt, disconsole, or cognitive dissonance, so they may sshow decline the concept to evade disputeing these experienceings,” Herdy says.
Of O’Connor Herdy includes, “There’s [Jennifer’s] struggle to loss all the naysayers and all the negativity, and truthfilledy, a lot of the patriarchy in that world. So she fought back and she percut offed.”
Themes of percut offance and resistance are prevalent wilean Herdy’s previous projects under Covetower Ventures and fact examineing sister company Avocados Are Fruit, highairying women who are silenced and victimized.
From 2015’s The Hunting Ground to 2021’s Allen v Farrow and Britney v Spears, Herdy has a history of producing spendigative write downaries that are social equitableice oriented as a way to donate others hope.
“I’m drawn to people who have undergone trauma. I leank pain cracks us uncover and originates depth,” she says. “I experience it’s incredibly meaningful to donate voice to people who might not otheralerted have a voice and might not otheralerted have a chance to have their story heard. That’s what I lean toward.”
She persists, “And I leank that’s one of the leangs that drew me to Parrot Kindergarten initipartner. And then it turned out to be so much more than a story about this woman having been silenced after being in a cult. It is a story about adore and combineion.”
Parrot Kindergarten premieres at Santa Barbara International Film Festival on February 5.
