Birds ‘Directed’ Mastercard’s Short Film Celebrating the Biodiversity of the Danube

The Danube Delta is an area with impressive biodiversity, hosting over 330 of the 380 bird species that can be found in Romania. But the accelerated and unsustainable development in the area endangers the number of birds year after year. 

Mastercard partnered with OTP Bank to create Birdville, a short film directed by birds in partnership with MRM Romania and McCann Bucharest.

There are a multitude of documentaries in which people tell stories about the fauna of the Delta. But to capture its true beauty, unspoiled by human presence, this time the birds took over as directors. For four days, four cameras equipped with motion sensors were placed in key areas of the Delta, chosen together with Iliuță Goean, tourist guide of Descopera Delta Dunarii to capture the activity of the birds. 

The birds decided when it was time for 'action' and when the scene cut because the cameras started recording only when they were in proximity and stopped after 10 seconds of inactivity. 

Nine species of birds were spotted during filming, which began before sunrise and ended after sundown. They included the Common Pelican, the Small Cormorant, the Common Tern, Grey Heron and the Black-Headed Gull. 

Birdville aims to become an awareness and education platform to promote conservation in the region.

On offline screens, the movie displays a QR code that leads people to birdville.ro website, where people can find out more information about the steps they can take to get involved in the biodiveristy conservation. 

”The Danube Delta is among the last truly wild places in Romania, where birds still live without being disturbed by human intervention,” said Simona Suman, executive creative director MRM Romania. “That’s what we wanted to capture, so we thought of a piece of content where our intervention would be minimal, for the viewers to see the birds like they’ve never seen them before, in total freedom. But this is about to change if people aren’t aware of the impact of their actions as tourists, inhabitants, or business developers in the Delta.”

The film launched during Anonimul International Independent Movie Festival in Sfântu Gheorghe, Danube Delta. It will also be entered in the competitions of other international movie festivals.