Nature and Environment

Under the tropical sun, 400 kilometres from the African continent, is a small continent of its own: Madagascar. Fantastic landscapes, bizarre flora and fauna and a people with a deep love of nature make this island so special. There are many... more

Sharks, dolphins and seals hunt through the waters, birds plunge headfirst into the waves. Thousands of animals come to eat as much as they can from the enormous swarms of sardines that pass the South African Shore once a year. The spectacle of... more

Courageous gliders in the Argentinean Andes. Just like the surfers in Hawaii waiting for the perfect wave, the gliders look for waves made of wind behind the mountains, in an altitude of 12,000 m. With the help of these so-called lee-waves they... 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

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

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

With its altitude of 1456 m, the “Große Arber” is considered to be the “King of the Bavarian Wood”. Unfortunately today the “tortured” king would be a more fitting name, because no other mountain in the Bavarian Wood is as exploited by skiing... more

„When you meet the bird, then gently show it that you know, love and understand its country, and it will entrust you with everything it possesses: its freedom, its life, its offspring!”, says a fairy tale in Lapland. “The legend of the bird in the... more

The glaciologist Benedikt Schnyder lives and works in the Swiss canton Wallis, in the winter sport paradise Saas-Fee, surrounded by snow-covered Alpine peaks. For 35 years, he has registered the development of the glaciers, the steady retreat of... more

When the silence of the South Pole gives way to gridlock, jostling, squawking, fights and sex... Millions of penguins, seals and seabirds watch and wait for this break in the endless polar winter that brings springtime to the Antarctic beaches... more

The German Research Station Neumayer is located in the northern Weddel Sea, on the Ekström shelf- ice (70° 39’ south, 08° 15’ west). For technical reasons, the station was constructed under the ice. The working and living space of the nine... more

“Sharks: Stewards of the Reef” takes you on a voyage of underwater discovery, to explore tropical reefs and dive with sharks. The documentary describes the relationship between reef sharks, the coral reefs they inhabit and how both are in danger... more

The Reichraminger Hintergebirge is not a “spectacular” landscape. During the last centuries it has only changed little and with its extended, jungle-like forest areas it offers an image which in former times was quite common in Central Europe... more

„And then the Lord sent thunders and hails” the Old Testament says, “lightning flashed from the sky, rain beat down and the hail even killed men and animals on the field”. Due to the changing climate, hail and strong rains cause devastating... more

The “Höfats” is a unique mountain, steep and jagged, yet also green and covered with flowers up to the summit. It cannot be compared to any other mountain in the world. Therefore it is also the emblem of the Allgäu Alps. This “queen of the grass... more

With its catchment area the size of the Indian sub-continent and its length of 3.800 kilometres, the Mississippi is the world’s third largest river. From the source area at the Itasca Lake in Minnesota to its mouth in the Golf of Mexico, from the... more

Exactly 100 years ago, the poacher Joseph Berard from the Aosta valley stole two ibex kids from the reservation of the Italian king and sold them in Switzerland. The Aosta valley then was the only area in the Alps where the ibex still existed... more

They look like enormous bats and they love the night: the flying foxes. In Australia they are considered to be a plague because they graze masses of fruits in the gardens, plantations and parks. With this complex portrait, the film shows the... more

The largest waterfalls on earth hold a precious secret: in the heart of one of the most endangered living spaces on earth – in the Atlantic Rain Forests – the stained jaguar searches for prey, the kittenish coati play in the highest tree tops and... 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

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

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

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 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

Old snow? For the scientists, the condition of glaciers is one of the most important indicator of climate changes. In the valley of Chamonix and in the mountain massif of the Mont Blanc, the pioneers of the climate and glacier research gathered... more

Solar cells are outdated. Today the scientists experiment with artificial leaves that produce hydrogen with the help of solar energy. They also try to air-condition whole cities following the example of the thermal system of termite mounds. This... more

This documentary accompanies the shark explorer Richard Fitzpatrick to the Australian Great-Barrier-Reef, the largest marine sea park in the world and home of the tiger sharks. Fishing is strictly forbidden, yet also a mono-culture on land can... more

This impressionistic short film with impressive photographic sequences tells the story of one summer in the mountains of the Allgäu, an area in the Bavarian Alps. Without narration but with the help of the rhythm of cuts and the conscious use of... more

When the majestic predator birds fly their circles above the endless desert at dawn, the masters keep a watchful eye on their protégés. In Arabic countries, the falconry has a long tradition. Training and hunting with these noble birds is a kind... more

Powerful mountain ranges with steep rock faces, crystal clear rivers and lakes, dense forests and narrow gorges mark the Nature Park Steirische Eisenwurzen. This archaic mountain scenery seems to have remained completely unchanged for millions of... more

In this film we undertake an imaginary travel back to the Bronze Age, when approximately 1400 before Christ animals were sacrificed on the “Piller Kultplatz” to honour the Gods. Around the year 47 after Christ, Roman legions as well as merchants... more

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

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

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

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