Alpine and foreign cultures

Most of the inhabitants of the Swiss Bündner Alpine Valleyes live in modest and sparse conditions. In many villages, the economic upturn arrived only in the last decades. Only a few of these people have preserved their traditional way of life... more

This documentary is not about the famous idyllic pictures of the silhouette of the Matterhorn that we know from post cards showing the impressive 4000 m high mountain at its best. Instead, it tells striking stories about people who have a very... more

Herdswoman is about three Sami women to whom reindeer herding is more than a mere occupation. It is a way of life, their culture. Aina, Elisabeth and Lisa belong to different generations. Their stories reflect life in Sápmi (Lapland) and the... more

Fritz Sendlhofer is Zell am See’s dinosaur. Although he lives in a remote place on a small mountain above the city, everyone knows him. This is not surprising, because Fritz is very convivial, the door of his house is always open for everybody... more

Dorje Sherpa is seven years old, lives in the small Nepalese village Bengka, and he wishes to see the highest mountains in the world. Together with his father and great-grandfather he sets off on a journey through fascinating landscapes, passing... more

When the stags are belling and when – later – the chamois wander, nothing can stop them. They put on their masks, and pack their dismountable rifles into their backpack. „Grüß Gott Gams“ portrays three active poachers who are neither interested... more

Burma offers everything which travel agents and their customers dream of: spirituality and the exotic, coupled with a pristine condition and the Asian joie de vivre. All too often, however, mention is not made of the fact that the lion’s share of... more

This film is based on the director's field research conducted in Tibet in 2006, when he made a ritual pilgrimage to Kailas - the khorra - following the norms of behavior of Buddhist monks, and attended the central annual Tibetan festival - Saga... more

How do you reconcile a commitment to non-violence when faced with violence? Why do the poor often seem happier than the rich? Must a society lose its traditions in order to move into the future? These are some of the questions posed to His... more

“Eisenwurzen” is an insight into the folk music of the Eisenwurzen region, people singing and stamping, so telling the history of the legends and plagues of the Austrian Eisenstraße (“Iron Route”), almost a western musical and an echo off the... more

Forensic anthropologist Eric Crubezy made a sensational discovery. Whilst excavating the permafrost of Yakutia, in eastern Siberia, he unearthed an ancient burial site containing a truly exceptional find: the body of a woman lying in a wooden... more

In the southern Carpathians, on the Luncanilor plateau Romanian farmers, most of them shepherds have been living in an almost completely isolated world for centuries. They have survived all political turbulences without any harm, simply because... more

In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, on the islands of Vanuatu, humans have a fascination for a particular animal. Sacred stones honour its memory… Drums announce its presence… Dances and chants celebrate its glory… It embodies wealth, it is at the... more

“DAUGHTERS OF WISDOM” is an intimate portrait of the nuns of Kala Rongo, a rare and exceptional Buddhist Monastery exclusively for women in remote northeastern Tibet. Here, these women are receiving unprecedented educational and religious... more

„Never marry someone from Dankhar“, people in the Himalayas say, „up there, life is too hard“. At an altitude of 4.000m the village Dankhar majestically overlooks the Spiti valley. Here, in the wasteland near the Indian border to Tibet, the... more

Since China’s occupation of Tibet, Ladakh, the „Land of the High Passes“ in the north of India has remained the last refuge of the Tibetan high culture. In the village Saboo the 82 –year old shaman Ayu Lhamo lives, a legendary oracle healer... more

The mountain village Gondo is located on the south side of the Alps, in the Swiss canton Wallis, on the foot of the Simplon pass on the border to Italy. On October 14, 2000, an avalanche of stones, mud and water flooded the small mountain village... more

This award-winning film is about how Hannes Schneider became known as the “Father of Modern Alpine Skiing” by starting his famous ski school and ski shop in St. Anton, Austria in the early 1900s and then spreading awareness of alpine skiing... more

Even nowadays, porters carry the food to the alpine huts in the High Tatra in the north east of Slovakia. Carrying provisions has a long tradition and it corresponds to the living culture which is marked by freedom and independency. Viktor Beranek... more

At 3,700 m Tibet’s capital Lhasa (”God’s place” in English) is very close to heaven. There is probably no other city in the world where religion and politics, belief and culture, worship and daily routine are as closely interwoven as in Lhasa... more

A small mountain village in the Occitaine Alps is gradually dying out, its income and the livelihood of its ageing population only maintained by the summer tourist season. Into this small, tight knit and conservative community comes a French... more

In winter, they live where other farmers only spend their summer: at an altitude of 1725 metres, deep in the snow. The mountain farmer family Kempf in the Swiss Schächental runs three farms, and therefore has to move ten times per year. In spring... more

The 2,339 m high Bromo ranks among the most active vulcanoes on the Indonesian island Java. The people of the Tengger, with a population of around 10,000 people, live around this mountain. Their skills in crop production yield rich harvests on the... more

Fourty degrees in the shade are standard in summer. In winter it is hardly cooler. In the desert country Oman rain is an exception, natural rivers or lakes do not exist. Nevertheless, people living there have managed to make the desert flourish in... more

Once a year, thousands of people flock to the glacier of Qoyllur Rity, the “mountain of wishes” in the Peruvian Andes. Already before the Inkas, it was a spiritual place, where the mighty Gods of the Mountains – the Apus - were worshipped. More... more

The nearly 300 stairs of the Sparchenstiege are the only connection between the Kaiser Valley and the world outside. It is the only inhabited valley in Austria not accessible by streets. This valley is located near Kufstein, between the Wilder and... more

The Vikings who discovered America approximately 500 years before Christopher Columbus, probably did not survive the encounter with the local Inuits. In order to retrace the historical events, a French film team follows the trace of Eric the Red... more

Obcina is a small village hidden in the mountains. During summer dozens of Ruthenians live and work there. Before winter all of them leave the mountain village that is exposed to extreme weather. Only the family of Stefan Cut holds out, but this... more