The Fundy Film Society

Bad Coyote

Bad Coyote

The Fundy Film Society is pleased to partner with the National Film Board of Canada in this Valley Première of local filmmaker Jason Young’s latest documentary Bad Coyote. Jason is no stranger to the Al Whittle Theatre as Fundy Film screened Valley premières of two previous Young films Animals (2005) and Inside Time (2008). 

Shot partly in the Annapolis Valley, Bad Coyote features as one of five central characters, Lance Bishop, local farmer and Wolfville Farmers’ Market vendor. Jason Young’s documentary is a vigorous analysis of the politics—and the price—of living and playing close to nature.

It’s new, it’s fearless, and it’s very real. A hybrid type of coyote, thought to be part wolf, has migrated to Eastern Canada. After a deadly mauling in Cape Breton, said to be the first such fatal attack against an adult human, alarm spreads across Nova Scotia. Trappers, scientists, sheep farmers and the mother of the 19-year-old victim, Taylor Mitchell, weigh in.

Increasing media coverage and reports of coyote attacks and sightings prompts the provincial government to issue a controversial bounty for dead coyotes. To some, the only good coyote is a dead one; but others call for a more measured approach, seeking mutual respect between humans and animals. The central irony is not lost: this new breed, called a “coywolf” by some, has replaced a wolf population previously driven out by predatory humans.

Jason Young will introduce the film and offer a Q&A after the screening. Admission is by free-will offering.