Arjan’s Big Year (2017)

Directed by: Michiel van den Bergh | 78 minutes | documentary | With: Arjan Dwarshuis

The young Dutch birdwatcher Arjan Dwarshuis traveled the world in 2016 to spot as many bird species as possible in one year. In birdwatching circles such an ambitious mission is called a big year, a phenomenon that is also reflected in the David Frankel-directed film ‘The Big Year’ (2011). The goal of Dwarshuis: to break the record of Noah Strycker. No mean feat, because this American managed to observe no fewer than 6042 of the estimated 10,400 existing bird species in 2015. Dwarshuis visited more than forty countries to achieve his goal, a journey that took him to the highest mountain ranges, hottest deserts and most remote tropical rainforests on earth. The Dutchman eventually succeeded in his mission with flying colors: the counter only stopped at 6852 species, a significant improvement on the record set by Strycker.

‘Arjan’s Big Year’ is the visual report of Arjan Dwarshuis’s quest, driven by a love and genuine interest in birds. You largely get what you expect: beautiful images of often impressive landscapes and a whole range of colorful and fascinating birds. The true species hunter will certainly mouth water at the exotic avifauna that passes in review. The film is more in the form of a colorful travelogue than an informative nature documentary. It is the motives, experiences, perseverance and determination of Arjan Dwarshuis that are central. Most birds are only mentioned by (their English) name, without background information about the way of life of the species. Sometimes a bit of a shame, but on the other hand an understandable choice if you make a report of a birding trip that yielded a total of more than 6800 species.

The so-called ‘holy grails of the birdwatching community’, usually very rare or extremely hard to find species, are a small exception to that rule. A good example is the maleo (also known as the hammerhead), a remarkable and endangered bird on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi that lays its eggs in a hole dug in the sand. The enormous joy that Dwarshuis shows when finding this animal shows that this is one of the favorite species of the birdwatcher. In addition to bird images, beautiful panoramas and personal anecdotes, ‘Arjan’s Big Year also briefly discusses the devastating effect that human activities have on many global bird populations. Nevertheless, there are also local conservationists who do have success in protecting rare bird species.

‘Arjan’s Big Year’ is an interesting account of a unique journey. Although the documentary will mainly appeal to bird lovers and connoisseurs, it is accessible and light-hearted enough to captivate a more general audience as well. Moreover, the passion explodes (which is apparent, for example, from the enthusiasm that the protagonist also shows after returning to the Netherlands for ‘normal’ Dutch birds such as the robin), which makes the film also convincing as a plea for the protection of wild birds. .