FREE | Registration Required

Join us for the Community Impact Film Series event focused on Animal Welfare. This free community program brings together film, dialogue, and community resources to educate, engage, and empower attendees. The event will include a film screening, a panel discussion featuring community leaders and subject-matter experts, and a resource fair connecting participants with local organizations and service opportunities.

What to Expect:

• 10:00–10:30 AM: Resource Fair
• 10:30–10:40 AM: Opening Remarks
• 10:40 AM–10:50 AM:  Short Film: My Duduś (8.35min.)
• 10:55–12:55 PM: Feature Film: Listers (120min.)
• 1:00–1:40 PM: Panel Discussion
• 1:45–2:30 PM: Resource Fair

About the Films:

Opening Short Film: My Duduś 

A Polish mother grieves when her only child leaves their home in the suburbs of Chicago to study in Poland. While her son is away, she finds a baby squirrel in her backyard and forges a unique and powerful bond with the animal, raising him as if he were her own child.

Director + Cinematography + Photography – Tom Krawczyk

Feature Film: Listers

Two brothers set off on an unusually feathered adventure: a year living out of a van, chasing birds across the country in pursuit of a Big Year birdwatching contest, because nothing says sibling bonding like arguing over whether that was a warbler or definitely, maybe, 100 percent a sparrow.

Listers is a documentary that follows devoted birdwatchers known as “listers,” who travel widely in their ongoing mission to spot and record as many bird species as possible. Equal parts road film and quiet obsession, it offers an intimate look at the discipline, humor, and deep focus that shape the birding community.

As the miles add up and the checklists grow longer, the film reveals that birdwatching is more than a competition. It is a way of seeing the world with patience, precision, and delight. Beneath the binoculars and rivalry is something unexpectedly tender: a lifelong practice of attention, where every sighting becomes both a score and a moment of connection with the natural world and, occasionally, with your very competitive sibling in a very small van.

Moderator: Julie Emmons

With more than 20 years of experience in the film industry and a lifelong passion for storytelling, Julie is dedicated to using the power of film to highlight the beauty and importance of wildlife, with a special affection for squirrels.

As a co-founder of Nutty By Nature Squirrel Rescue, she combines her love of animals, community service, and storytelling to advocate for wildlife conservation and rehabilitation. This role represents a natural and meaningful extension of her lifelong commitment to making a positive impact through education, compassion, and creative engagement.

Resource Fair Participants:

• Cold Blooded & Bizarre
• Wildlife Wonderland
• Windsor Kittens
• Carolina Raptor Center
• Charlotte-Mecklenburg Animal Care & Control
• East Side Animal Hospital

Food to Enjoy:

• Dulce Dreams Cafe (food truck)
• Coffee provided by Giddy Goat Coffee

Thank you to our promotional partners Charlotte Wildlife Stewards, Nutty by Nature, and Windsor Kittens.

Made possible through the generosity of Kathryn & Luke Kissam.