Elizabeth Unger

The Madidi National Park—located in Bolivia—is home to rich and treasured natural land: the most biodiverse in the whole planet. The Director of the Madidi Park, Marcos Uzquiano, is a determined ranger who deems his service to this kind of preservation work a “calling.” In particular, Marcos is resolute in tracking down the illicit jaguar trade that has been pervasive in Bolivia, and disrupting this unrelenting eradication of an entire species.

Batsies examines two women’s tender relationship with an animal that’s feared and loathed: the bat. We follow the journey of Dr. Weaver and Dr. Fritts as they conduct cutting-edge research throughout rural Texas, where wind turbines pose a new threat to bat populations. Bats save billions of dollars in agriculture costs by consuming insects that feed on crops. But the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in deepened public stigma toward these winged mammals. Through their research efforts, quirky friendship and shared bat obsession, Batsies is a fresh take on saving a creature that’s considered the ultimate outcast.