Under the Overpass
James DeLisio
Official Selection
𖤘 Short: Documentary, Ethnographic, Experimental
Under the Overpass by James DeLisio follows a colony of Cliff Swallows nesting on a section of Interstate 5 above the San Dieguito River in California. The film draws attention to the often-overlooked liminal spaces of built environments, where ecological rhythms and human-made infrastructure converge. Constructed as triptych compositions of the birds in flight, their nests on the freeway, and the San Dieguito River Park, the film is accompanied by two texts: Cliff Swallows – Missouri Breaks, a poem by Debra Nystrom; and scientific paper Where has all the Roadkill Gone? Through this structure, DeLisio charts the oscillations of the swallows’ movements and explores border spaces between natural and constructed, rural and urban, and science and art. The central frame often acts as a bridge between the outer images, as in the opening sequence, where the underpass appears both as a literal passageway and a figurative crossing between entangled worlds. At times, the swallows fly seamlessly across all three frames, uniting them into a single composition.
Watching the film requires shifting attention between texts and images, which unfold at different rhythms. This oscillation mirrors the swallows’ own flight; each viewing produces different constellations of meaning, inviting the audience to join the swallows.
Where has all the Roadkill Gone? (excerpt)
Charles R. Brown & Mary B. Brown
Wing length of road-killed Cliff Swallows was significantly longer than in the population at large. Average wing length of the population as a whole exhibited a significant long-term decline during the years of the study whereas the opposite pattern held for the birds killed on roads. Cliff Swallows now commonly nest on highway bridges, overpasses, and road culverts. These birds likely began commonly encountering vehicles when they started frequently using roadside nesting sites in the early to mid-1980s probably in response to construction of more bridges and culverts. One possible explanation is that selection has favoured individuals whose wing morphology allows for better escape. Longer wings have lower wing loading and do not allow as vertical a take-off as shorter, more rounded wings. Regardless of the mechanism, the drop in traffic-related mortality suggests that researchers should consider the possibility that road mortality may change temporally and exert selection.
Cliff Swallows – Missouri Breaks
by Debra Nystrom
Is it some turn of wind
that funnels them all down at once, or
is it their own voices netting
to bring them in — the roll and churr
of hundreds searing through river light
and cliff dust, each to its precise
mud nest on the face —
none of our own isolate
groping, wishing need could be sent
so unerringly to solace. But
this silk-skein flashing is like heaven
brought down: not to meet ground
or water — to enter
the riven earth and disappear.
James DeLisio is a filmmaker and student at the University of California, San Diego. His films focus on exploring the intersections of the ecological and the humanistic. In his spare time, he enjoys birdwatching.
Production: James DeLisio
Crew: Kai Zeger, Karen Avila, Jessie Ortiz
Courtesy of the artist