Hayes to speak at film festival

| January 18, 2017 12:00 AM

“The Perfect Flight”, a film about falconry and slated to show at this Thursday nights Banff Mountain Film Festival show at the Panida Theater will have Shawn Hayes present his film to the Sandpoint audience as well as host a short question-and-answer session afterward.

When young Shawn Hayes was given a wild falcon in a rough and tumble neighborhood east of Los Angeles, he had no idea it would lead him into a lifelong love affair with falconry — training and hunting with wild raptors. “The Perfect Flight” is a documentary portrait of Shawn and his falcon that launched him into the medieval traditions of falconry.

Hayes, whose home is near the Mammoth Lakes area of California, has access to millions of acres of BLM land in the picturesque high desert, the idea place for training falcons. His current focus is flying large longwings (falcons) at extreme heights. As a by-product of training falcons, Shawn has homing pigeons. His pigeons are highly regarded by falconers as well as well as pigeon racers.

Dedicated to the evolution and refinement of the practice of falconry, Hayes shares a message of honor, respect and stewardship. His interest in the world heritage of falconry bridges the practice of falconry with two kinds of preservations and enrichment: the diversity of individual cultures and the care of raptors and their habitat.

When introducing the endangered peregrine falcon to the California skies, Hayes played a key role while working with the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group.

The film is a production of Speculative Films based out of San Francisco, Calif., which produces a mix of narrative, documentary and commercial films about humanity’s relationship to science, technology and nature.

Thursday’s showing of the Banff Mountain Film Festival will take place at the Panida Theater. Doors open at 6 p.m. with the show starting at 7 p.m.

For more information on Shawn Hayes go to: shawnhayesfalconry.com. For more information on the Banff Mountain Film Festival in Sandpoint, go to mountainfever.us.