‘In the Blood’ Portrays Hunters as Naturalists

Is it a contradiction to love animals and still shoot them dead?

A controversial new movie says no and depicts hunters as naturalists.

Likely to become one of the year’s more divisive films, “In the Blood” is a feature-length documentary arguing that big-game hunting plays an integral role in conservation.

Written and directed by George Butler, a hunter from age 6, “In the Blood” takes the position that “one does not hunt in order to kill.” It shows hunting as a bonding rite and a fundamental privilege.

The movie, opening Feb. 16 in Houston, was shown Thursday in the documentary competition of the Sundance United States Film Festival.

Five years in the making, “In the Blood” was backed by 20 investors, including the hunting-wetland preservation group Ducks Unlimited.

Among the more noteworthy organizations not sponsoring the film: the National Rifle Assn. “I’m sure that I could have gotten all the money I needed from the NRA,” Butler said. “But I have no association with them. . . . They’re a gun lobby, not a hunting lobby.”

Indeed, Butler said he has tried not to arouse undue controversy. He prefers to let the film speak for itself.

Wherever the movie has been shown, a few people have walked out, Butler said.

The film’s premise is that hunting, when well-conceived and well-executed, improves the cycle of life.

“I had a tremendously difficult time making this movie,” Butler said. “The prejudice against hunting is so powerful in the film industry.”

Butler released his “Pumping Iron” bodybuilding films independently because Hollywood frowned upon that topic, too.

“I make films about unfashionable subjects,” Butler said.