The Pollinators – a film

A cinematic journey about the current international bee crisis and what it means for our food security.

Director Peter Nelson
Country of Origin: USA
Year: 2019
Running Time: 93 mins

That bees are in danger is well known, but what Peter Nelson’s articulate and knowledgeable documentary does is start with this fact and then expand into a careful consideration of our most large-scale problems vis-à-vis nature and food supply. Revealing the honeycombed network of migratory beekeepers, hidden by night as they truck across the country, keeping our food system alive – literally – The Pollinators won’t let you see your meals in the same way again. As billions of bees are hauled across the country each year to pollinate farms, it’s apparent that the problem isn’t just with dying honeybee populations, but with poor agricultural choices.

Scientists know that we must get away from 20th-century agricultural practices and renew our respect for complex soils and ecosystems, and Nelson’s information-packed film is very encouraging in showing how to do that through “regenerative farming” techniques. As a beekeeper and a cinematographer, Peter Nelson captures this hidden world with an insider’s knowledge and a keen eye for compositions. From stunning landscapes and night photography, to intimate close-ups of the bees themselves, the enlightening information found here is told through a seasoned storyteller’s lens.

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