The trials of the humble honeybee are magnified to epic proportions in the meticulous, magnificent documentary “The Pollinators.” Combining extensive interviews with purposeful nature photography, the film presents a thoroughly researched look at the causes and effects of the rapidly declining bee population, essential for the food supply in the United States.
The film emphasizes the crucial role bees play in pollinating plants so that they can bear fruit, and it shows how parasites, pesticides and the lack of biodiverse habitats within industrial farming have created an increasingly hostile environment for the bees to do their work. Beekeepers can help to regenerate bee populations, but if too many bees die too quickly, the entire food supply chain is imperiled. “The Pollinators” uses the almond industry as one example: Each year, beekeepers transport their hives to California to help farmers pollinate their orchards for the almond harvest. With bee populations in decline and the popularity of almonds constant, this means nearly every commercial bee in the country must be deployed just to keep up with that harvest.
If the director Peter Nelson shows the weakness of current industrial farming models, he also shows agricultural alternatives by following experts in their fields, including the farmers and beekeepers whose livelihoods are at stake. The natural beauty of these specialists’ orchards does more than lend loveliness to dense information — it gives its audience a way to visually understand agricultural health.
Thriving bees are filmed in close-ups bursting with color that emphasize the vitality, the industriousness and even the social grace of these remarkable creatures. Identical rows of soil-depleting corn and soybeans can’t compare to untamed (and bee-friendly) fields of wildflowers and rye.
Here is a movie that presents an intelligent vision of nature. What’s pleasing to the eye is pleasing to the earth — a sentiment the film rigorously supports with science.
The Pollinators
Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 32 minutes. Rent or buy on iTunes, Vimeo and other streaming platforms and pay-TV operators.
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June 17, 2020 at 12:39AM
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‘The Pollinators’ Review: Fight of the Honeybee - The New York Times
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