Lush green meadows and happy cows – a well known image of Switzerland which no-one seems to question, except Daniel Wismer. On a journey through Tibet he found his mission in life. Back home, he settled down in the Matter valley in the Wallis,... more

Swedish Meatballs features classic lines and first ascents as Dylan Smith and Carl-Ola Boström spend a month on the road meeting up with the boulderers who shaped the Swedish scene. Growing up in Wales, Dylan Smith spends his days now playing with... more

The nineteen-year-old nomad son Norbu has kidnapped his bride, the young Tashi, and takes her from Leh, the capital city of Ladakh, to his extended family in the Changthang. Wife stealing is nothing unusual for the Changpa, but it is the custom to... more

The famed Outer Banks of the Carolina coast are a slim and moving line of sand in the open Atlantic. Many travellers think they know these islands - but south of Ocracoke Inlet rises a luminous bar of sand almost sixty miles in extent, with no... more

This documentary accompanies a caravan passing through the fantastic landscape of the Sahara in Southern Algeria showing its characteristics and laws. For 36 years, the filmmakers Jean-Louis and Odette Bernezat have explored the desert, and they... more

In May 2006, the two friends Tormod Granheim and Tomas Olsson were standing on the top of Mount Everest, ready to ski down the mountain. After four years of preparations they were going to be the first in the world skiing down Everest. Only one of... more

The exceptional family tradition of the Dyhrenfurth family as pioneers in the Himalayas and as filmmakers started in the late 1920ies, when German mountaineers arrived first in this area to participate in the competition for an eight-thousand... more

Darwin, Australia. Hundreds of scientists from around the world try ‘to catch the perfect thunderstorm’. The storm is one of the largest on the planet, it even has a name, ‘Hector’. The scientists call themselves I.C.E, the ‘International Cloud... more

An ancient myth, a submerged city, an unknown culture: together with a television crew, the adventurer Bruno Baumann looks for the legendary Shangri La in the mountain desert of Tibet. According to the myth, Shangri La was a kind of paradise in... more

The dramatic tale of 3 Australians who paddle 800km down the Antarctic Peninsula in incredibly challenging conditions. With the stunning backdrop of one of the world's last true wildernesses, they encounter new hazards around every headland and... more

The last flat land gorillas live in the Kahuzi-Biega national park in the east of the Democratic Republic Congo. They are threatened by the permanent wars in this region and by the indigene pygmies, who hunt the gorillas to eat or sell their meat... more

This documentary is a little wildlife filmmaking sensation. Meet one of the shyest predators of the Northern hemisphere: the wolverine. It is so elusive that even hunters rarely come across it. Wildlife photographer Antti Leinonen has followed... more

In the late summer, the German Alpine Club organizes tree-planting activities in the mountain forests. In the area of the Spitzingsee, seven volunteers from all over Germany cope with the strains of planting the seedlings on steep slopes. All... more

The ultra-marathon Trans 333 is the toughest run on earth through a desert. It is taking place in Niger for the second time. The run leads 333 kilometres through the desert Ténéré across a difficult terrain: deep sand, large stones and strong sand... more

Christopher Harris was a very naughty baby. He was forever out of his cot. At four years of age he started climbing rockfaces, and very soon after, mountains. At twelve he had climbed the highest mountain in Australia, New Zealand and Africa. At... more

The Kalash live in the high valleys of the Hindukush, in the north west of Pakistan, near the border with Afghanistan. During centuries they have succeeded in resisting the Islamization. However, during the last decades, many of them have given... more

John Falkiner and Paolo Tassi, two charming personalities, untiring powder hunters and free telemark interpreters, tell us about their dreams and why they have chosen skiing as their true lifestyle. Whooshing through Fulvio Mariani’s camera shots,... more

In the forests of the Russian Far East, an inexperienced and foolhardy poacher triggers an infamous series of tiger attacks on people. The authorities call upon the services of Yuri Trush, a specialist in tracking and eliminating tigers that have... more

„The true adventures are not in your mind but out there. And up here you can feel them”, says a note written in the summit book of the highest mountain in South Tyrol. This extraordinary film, made with good humour, tries to explore the aims of... more

Nepal, 12 December 2005. Western slope of the fifth highest peak on the planet. Altitude: 5300 meters. Jean-Christophe Lafaille readies himself to accomplish a new feat. At the threshold of the Himalayan winter, he begins acclimatizing himself to... more

The highest waterfall on earth, the “Salto Angel”, precipitates 1,000 m in a free fall from the Auyan Tepuy sandstone plateau in the Amazon area of Venezuela. In the giant wall right next to the waterfall, some of the world’s best climbers intend... more

It is the holiest mountain among the eight-thousand metre peaks, but also the most dangerous: 40 of the 190 couragous mountaineers climbing the Kangchendzonga in the north east of Nepal have lost their lives. In May 2006, the Austrian Gerlinde... more

The death of Englishman David Sharp in May 2006 as he attempted to reach the summit of Mt Everest for the 3rd time thrust the debate surrounding commercial high altitude guiding firmly back onto the front pages of the world’s newspapers. Mark... more

Three years of shooting in all seasons, 1,000 hours of high definition footage and scenes that takes your breath away. The great polar fauna exercises its unshakeable will to live in a most inhospitable landscape. From the dark heart of winter to... more

In the province of Yunnan, in the south west of China, the rice farmers have cultivated their land in a most exceptional way. In order to run a complicated but highly efficient hydration system, they have built rice terraces up to an altitude of... more

In an age of fierce debate over globalization, environmental protection and saving endangered species, we have overlooked the most valuable imperiled resource we have: the diversity of our own kind. The culture of humanity is at risk... more

Deep in the middle of the Orinduik rainforest, enormous sandstone massifs suddenly emerge skywards: The mythical Lost World - the table mountains of the Guyana Highlands. Thanks to its almost absolute inaccessibility, prehistoric forms of life... more

On this evening you will have the unique chance of seeing all price winning films of the Festival 2007. The nominated films will be posted on a board in the entrance hall of the Convention Centre Graz and communicated to the press on Friday, Nov... more

The more people want to escape the stress and strains of everyday life, the more they seem to look for areas where man still is able to live a life of harmony with nature. The Alps, the biggest mountain range in Europe, incorporate this wild... more

In an age of technological integration and urban life, people turn to the natural world for a wilderness experience. What draws us to the remote corners of land and sea when we realize something in our lives is missing? In this documentary using... more

For many years, the Institute of Cartography at the Technical University of Dresden focused on Central Asia. Questioning the reliability of the old data of that area, it initiated a research study about the Swedish adventurer, scholar and explorer... more

“How to Get Hooked” is a comprehensive technical audio-visual guide that in a pleasant, understandable, eclectic, ancestral, strict, kaleidoscopic and ephemeral way, bring us near to the exciting world of life in Big Wall climbing. more

French horse expert Jacqueline Ripart has found her mission in her efforts to revive the breeding of the “original” Kyrgyz horse. Every year she organises a large riding festival at the mountain lake Issyk-Kul, with the aim that the mares and... more

A team of Russian rock-climbers has established a new unique route on the vertical wall of the Great Sail Peak in Baffin Island, Canada… This is their unique account of the expedition. more

The pictures of the enormous atomic explosions shattering the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean in 1946 have not gone out of our mind. The US Forces had chosen this remote area to fire 23 atom bombs for test purposes there until 1958. The result... more

A stunning & challenging seakayaking journey to the dramatic Faroe Islands in Northern Europe. Follow Justine Curgenven & Alun Hughes as their tent is flattened by gales, the rough seas and fog challenge them on the water, and the friendly locals... more

What does man expect from mountains? Man makes the mountains adapt to his needs, but does man himself adapt to the mountains? „Fun Fatal“ deals with the everyday madness in the mountains, with the longings of individualists and with the mass... more

TranGOgirls is a movie about three Slovenian climbing girls - Tina, Tanja and Sandra - that put their strength, experience and dreams together into reaching as a first all female party the very magnificent granite needles of Trango Towers in the... more

Everywhere in Germany people seem to know "1,000-year-old“ trees. But do they really exist? On a journey of discovery from the Alps to the North Sea, the oldest and largest tree veterans are introduced "personally". The film thereby answers an... more

No other „inhabitant“ of South Africa is more feared than the anaconda. When the most powerful snake of the world winds its strong body around its victim there is hardly any chance of survival. Therefore it is not surprising that numerous horror... more

In November 2000, South-African divers using mixed gas tanks dived in an underwater canyon at Sodwana Bay on the south coast of South Africa. This is the most modern form of deep sea diving. They followed the traces of a South-African legend, the... more

The Hörnlihütte is situated at an altitude of 3,260 meters, at the foot of the Matterhorn, a mountain in Switzerland widely known for its remarkable shape. Every summer the hut is visited by thousands of people, both tourists and alpinists, who... more

The Zafimaniry community is the sole remaining repository of a unique woodcraft culture that was once widespread on the island of Madagascar. Their woodcrafting is an art that expresses the soul of this community of 25,000 people. They're now... more

Winter climbing on the highest peaks in the Himalayas is an extremely hard challenge. Only half of all the 8000+ have been climbed in winter. After a 16-year-long break in first ascents a Polish-Italian team left for Shisha Pangma (8027m) in... more

The whale has become part of both the cultural history and the history of art – from the antique world of legends to the Christian myths of creation, from the drawings in the Medieval Age to the designs of the modern time. This documentary shows... more