By Helen Quinn Pasin
"The Falconer" is a story of hope and second chances: for injured birds of prey, for an abandoned plot of land, for a group of teenagers who have dropped out of high school, and for Rodney Stotts, a licensed raptor specialist from Southeast Washington, D.C.
Stotts says his passion for falconry stems from the fact that it helps to keep the local raptor population healthy while crossing racial, socioeconomic and ethnic barriers. He makes a powerful connection between endangered species and local youth who must navigate survival in a stressed community. His organization "Rodney's Raptors" creates interactive and educational programming, allowing adults and children of all ages to experience the excitement of holding a live bird of prey while educating them on the vital role birds play in the ecosystem.
Filmmaker Annie Kaempfer with one of Rodney Stotts’ hawks.
Filmmaker Annie Kaempfer first learned of Stotts almost a decade ago while working at the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital. She was inspired by his story and intrigued by his presence, always accompanied by a live bird. Kaempfer got his business card, and Stotts eventually became a pivotal subject in her student films at New York University. This paved the way for the 75-minute feature film "The Falconer," which has won the 1st Prize Storyteller's Award at Destiny City Film Festival and the Best Outdoor/Environmental Feature at the Bend Film Festival.
The documentary weaves Rodney's present-day mission with the story of his past, both deeply rooted in social and environmental injustice issues, and consistently orients the viewer to his worldview: nature heals. As he tends to a bird in need, he says,
"All this is healing. All this is medicine. All this changes who you are."
Stotts' past was tumultuous at times. He grew up in government housing, worked various odd jobs, sold drugs, and spent time in jail for possession of marijuana. In the early 1990s, he took a job with the Earth Conservation Corps (ECC), cleaning up the Anacostia River. This set him on a path of becoming a conservationist, and he continues to work with ECC today. He plays an important mentorship role in the Wings Over America division, which gives youth who have dropped out of high school alternative paths forward, including becoming a falconer like Stotts.
Stotts' love of falconry and dedication to his community has made him a well-known youth community leader who creates transformative opportunities that connect young people to the environment and their community. In the film, Stotts says,
"Falconry can help build character, compassion and caring. It changes lives."
Since filming "The Falconer," Stotts has purchased his own land and is expanding his mission beyond birds and into horses, “Rodney just has this incredible self-sufficiency,” Kaempfer said during a phone interview. “When I first met him, he didn’t know anything about horses, but he has no fear and believes that he can learn how to do anything he needs to, and he does.”
In 2022 Stotts published a memoir, "Bird Brother: A Falconer's Journey and the Healing Power of Wildlife."
Meanwhile, Kaempfer has learned a lot from Stotts over the past decade. “I love his mom’s saying, ‘You’ve got five minutes to feel sorry for yourself, then get up and try again.’ I’ve said that to myself a lot,” says Kaempfer. She’s also taken away his message that “Green space matters. Connection with nature matters. And that needs to be accessible to everyone.”
To learn more about Stotts' work, visit rodneysraptors.webs.com.