Communion Short Film
Communion is an eight-channel twilight video installation designed to conjure an otherworldly encounter with the hummingbirds of Southern Appalachia The public installation features the Ruby-throated Hummingbird—the region’s primary native breeder. Projected larger than life, these charismatic avian subjects will be suspended in looping, slow-motion animated sequences capturing intimate biological states: frantic flight, feeding, rest, and the eerie stillness of torpor (their deep nocturnal hibernation). As their brilliant, iridescent feathers flash against and vanish into the dark, viewers are pulled into an ethereal, dreamlike communion between the living woods and hummingbirds made of light.
Communion transforms portions of the Serendipity and Discovery Trails at the Ijams Homesite into an immersive gathering space.
Communion made possible thanks to:
Ijams Nature Center
Paige Craine, Education Director, Co-Producer
Brandy Cox, Ijams Volunteer Manager Ijams Nature Center volunteer docents
Hummingbird Festival: A Celebration of Wings
Sponsors: Wild Birds Unlimited Knoxville, TN, Magnolia Landscape Construction, Stanley's Greenhouse, and Tennessee Wildlife Federation. Footage courtesy of Becky Boyd, Joe Hribar Stock footage provided by Blackboxguild, Dave Fleck, Jason, GMProductions | Pond 5