A free screening of the bat documentary "The Invisible Mammal" comes to the Burlingame Community Center on Wednesday, Oct. 21. San Francisco filmmaker Kristin Tièche will attend for a post-film Q&A.

The Citizens Environmental Council, a Burlingame-based environmental group, is hosting the event from 6 to 8 p.m. at 850 Burlingame Ave., according to a community post on Patch. Admission is free, but pre-registration is required.

The 89-minute film, directed by Tièche, follows a team of women bat scientists working to save North American bat species from white-nose syndrome, a fungal disease that has killed millions of bats since it was first documented in a cave near Albany, New York, in 2006. As of December 2025, bats with the disease had been confirmed in 41 states and five Canadian provinces, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

In some areas of the Northeast, bat populations have declined by 95 to 99%, according to the film's website. The little brown bat, once one of the most common species in North America, is now under review for potential listing under the Endangered Species Act.

After the screening, Tièche will lead a discussion about "Operation Fat Bat," a conservation strategy featured in the film. The proposed approach would install ultraviolet lights near cave entrances where bats hibernate. Insects drawn to the lights could give bats a chance to eat more before winter, potentially improving their chances of surviving white-nose syndrome during hibernation.

Tièche, who teaches film at Diablo Valley College and SF Film School, spent years on the project. "The Invisible Mammal" is her first feature documentary. It premiered in 2025 at the DocLands Documentary Film Festival in Marin County, where it won the Audience Choice Award, according to the Wild & Scenic Film Festival. The film has since collected awards at the Santa Cruz Film Festival, the Outer Banks Environmental Film Festival and the Lonely Wolf Film Festival.

In a director's statement published on the City of Ashland website ahead of the film's Oct. 30 Oregon premiere, Tièche described the moment bats first captured her attention: "One warm summer evening, I recall sitting on the balcony enjoying a cold beer and veggie burger, when I thought I saw something fly by my head. I looked up and the sky was literally filled with bats!"

Bats save U.S. farmers more than $3 billion per year by consuming insect pests, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

The Oct. 21 screening falls just ahead of Bat Week, an annual international celebration of bat conservation running Oct. 24–31. Residents can register online through the event's registration page or email [email protected] for more information.