Dawn Chorus is a meditative and thought-provoking short documentary following interspecies musician and philosopher David Rothenberg as he ventures into the natural world with an unusual mission: to make music with birds. Blending art and science, the film explores the relationships between observer and participant, musician and animal, human and nature.

Set in the liminal hours of early morning, the film captures Rothenberg’s immersive practice of joining the daily birdsong that erupts at sunrise. With clarinet in hand, he doesn’t seek to mimic or analyze the birds, but to communicate and to become part of nature’s symphony.

Using still, “locked-off” camera shots, the film showcases ecosystems often overlooked. Bathed in early light, plants, trees, and landscapes are framed as characters in their own right. This intentional visual style reinforces the film’s central message: attention is an act of care. To truly appreciate nature, we must learn to be still and to listen.

More than a study of birds or a portrait of an eccentric musician, Dawn Chorus is a meditation on the interconnectedness of life. Rothenberg draws from ornithology, bioacoustics, and ethnomusicology, approaching the dawn chorus not as random noise, but as the artistic expression of the natural world. His collaborations with birds become metaphors for a deeper ecological truth: humanity is not separate from nature, but part of it.

The film positions Rothenberg’s work as a call to action. By showing what is possible when we listen to the world, the film challenges viewers to reconsider their own relationship with nature. It asks: What if we saw ourselves not as masters of the earth, but as one voice among many in a planetary chorus? What if, instead of seeing the natural world as a resource to be used, we viewed it as a conversation to be joined?

In a time of growing ecological alienation and environmental urgency, Dawn Chorus doesn’t propose technological fixes or policy solutions, but something more fundamental: a shift in mindset. It asks us to slow down, to listen and to recognize that we, too, are part of nature’s song.