• DOCLANDS 2025 AUDIENCE CHOICE •
Behold with wonderment as hundreds of furry-faced bats emerge from their cave at sunset. Or as some locals may have witnessed, emerging from the Rafael when a few winged trespassers shut it down temporarily last winter! Against the backdrop of the sixth mass extinction, an all-women team of dedicated biologists sets out to save bats from a deadly fungal disease and are sent down a path of discovery that illuminates the connections between bat conservation and the spread of infectious disease. In stunning slow-motion cinematography, The Invisible Mammal quickly debunks the unsavory reputation that unfairly besmirch these fascinating creatures. We fear what we don’t understand and being the only mammals that can fly—primarily at night—bats defy the expectations of a small mammal and have surprising physiological and anatomical adaptations for survival. By immersing the audience viscerally and emotionally, director Kristin Tièche has succeeded in making bats understood more fully by bringing them into the limelight.
KRISTIN TIÈCHE is an award-winning filmmaker and editor based in San Francisco, CA, with a passion for crafting immersive, character-driven stories that shine a light on sustainability, conservation, and science. Kristin’s distinct storytelling voice is evident in her acclaimed short films, including Forms of Identification (2011), The Spinster (2013), The Bat Rescuer (2016), and the bicycle-themed web series Velo Visionaries (2015-2017). The Invisible Mammal, which delves into bat conservation in North America and women in science, is her first feature documentary.
KRISTIN TIÈCHE: Director
MATTHEW PODOLSKY: Producer
HEIDI ZIMMERMAN: Editor
DR. ALICE CHUNG-MACCOUBREY: Participant
DR. WINIFRED FRICK: Participant
CORKY QUIRK: Participant