"Another installment of Toney Merritt's Fragment series, THE BIRDS AND THE BEASTS is a hypnotizing meditation on nature and sounds that combines timelapse footage of the bird feeder with the trail camera footage of the mountain lion shot in real time. Set to a self-composed piece drawn from Merritt's sound library, THE BIRDS ANDTHE BEASTS' unique rhythm and two-part structure captures what it means to live in the wilderness through juxtaposing the power and majesty of the cougar with the spirit and freedom of the birds. A fragment of the seemingly mundane reality, the birds and the mountain lion turn into something far more meaningful: a reflection on multispecies relations and our peaceful co-existence with animals." - Kornelia Boczkowska

Toney Merritt: Camera/Editing/Sound Design

Screening: Other Cinema (September 2025)