“Keeping Birds” A student documentary project

Logline:

A documentary about birds as pets and the possible reasons why they are treated differently from other pets.

Synopsis:

As birds are a less than common pet, this documentary aims to promote pet bird ownership among Singaporeans and raise the issue of different treatment of pets in Singapore.

The documentary will focus on several bird owners and their experiences on keeping birds as pets, involving the joys and struggles of owning birds.

Why we are making this film:

Although bird keeping is a growing interest among younger Singaporeans, many are still unaware of it and form opinions based on negative impressions from the older generations or wild birds found on the streets (ie. mynahs, pigeons). If people are aware of bird keeping, they are more likely to think of the song birds under the HDB block owned by some older folk in Singapore. As a parrot owner, most people I meet don’t consider birds as pets until they meet me, which feels a bit discriminating, especially since most people consider dogs and cats to be the “better pets” when keeping birds and other small animals to be equally as rewarding.

The money will go towards our budget to help us finish this project. As we are students working on a tight budget, we will be very grateful for any help offered.