H is for Hawk

Toronto Film Festival 2025

Original language: English

Subtitles: Romanian

Directed by: Philippa Lowthorpe 

Country: USA

Year of production: 2025

Length: 119 minutes

Genre: Drama

When Helen's beloved father passes away, she is overtaken by grief and loses herself in memories of their time birding and exploring the natural world together. She becomes obsessed with the idea of training her own goshawk, and so she brings the fearsome bird Mabel home to Cambridge with her. Ready to embark on the arduous process of trying to train the wildest of animals, Helen fills the freezer with hawk food and turns off her phone. But as she labors to teach Mabel how to hunt and fly free on her own, Helen uncovers how neglected her own emotions and life have become. Based on a true story and a memoir of the same name, H IS FOR HAWK is a soaring journey of the connection between people and nature, and how it might be possible to reconcile loss through love.

Credits

Director – Philippa Lowthorpe

Screenplay – Emma Donoghue and Philippa Lowthorpe

Based on – “H is for Hawk” by Helen Macdonald

Producers – Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner

Cinematography – Charlotte Bruus Christensen, ASC

Production Design – Sarah Finlay

Editor – Nico Leunen, ACE

Music – Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch  

Cast

Claire Foy 

Brendan Gleeson 

Lindsay Duncan