"Birds" premiered in June at the Rosebud Film and Video Festival, where it won a Rosebud Award and $1,000! The film was also recently selected at the Flatland Film Festival and The Tucson Film and Music Festival, coming up in September and October.

Before production was complete, the screenplay for "Birds" was selected for competition at the DC Shorts Film Festival in 2007.

"Birds" is a short film about old age, love, hallucination, jealousy, bravery, loneliness, redemption and kindness. It is the story of an older married couple finding the strength of their relationship amidst the onset of dementia. When Ruth's two pet canaries start to drive Henry crazy, she doesn't suspect it's because he thinks there are hundreds of them. He tries to dissuade her from encouraging the horde with birdseed, but when she only gets increasingly irritated with him he decides to take matters into his own hands. While often surreal, funny and absurd, the film is essentially about the work of love that people of all ages must do in order to keep what matters.

The film was shot on location in Washington, DC and stars local actors Jim Scopeletis and Helen Hedman. Funding was collected entirely from small donors connected to the filmmakers. The total budget was approximately $18,000. The film was completed in November of 2007, and is now in consideration for entrance to festivals around the world. Click on the links to see the anatomy of the film: screenplay, storyboards and director Mark Betancourt's pre-production notes.

"Birds" has been nominated for the 2008 Rosebud Film Festival and competition in Arlington, VA on June 14th. Click here to visit the site.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW STILLS FROM THE SHOOTING OF "BIRDS."