Nature and Environment

The Arctic is one of the most hostile regions on earth. Hidden in a deep ice cave, a female ice bear is waiting for the winter to end. She has given birth to her offspring: triplets! – which is quite rare. After having spent more than five months... more

The Traun is not just an ordinary river. The Traun forms the central axis of a multiple water system: thunderous englacial streams, waterfalls, seventy-six lakes, numerous sources of all kinds, cave waters, calm meadowlands, thousands of... more

September in the Alps: the summer is already over on the peaks and meadows, and you can hear an impressive echo off the rock walls. The red deer rut is the most imposing event of the year. The strongest stags round up a group of females and defend... more

Reinhold Messner travels from high density areas in Monaco, through the wild and deserted Italian-French Western Alps and up to the north to the summit of the Mont Blanc. Only a few kilometres away from the luxurious metropolis, he reaches... more

The continous decrease of permafrost in the Alps has a catastrophic impact on the durability of the mountains. If the ice melts, the mountain loses its stability, the stone becomes poriferous und this results in great rock slides and spectacular... more

Many things have changed within the last decades in the valley Rottachtal. However, few and far between one still can discover some leftovers of ancient times. This film depicts how this area has changed throughout the years, an area, where the... more

What is it that makes the relationship of humans living in the Alps and their home, the Alps, become so close? Hardly any other region in the Alps offers such great, sometimes truely grotesque contradictions within a limited space as the Ötztal... more

We, three film makers and our assistant have come to a wild forest to seize never before seen images of the behaviour of foxes. We accepted this very special mission from Luc Jacquet, the director of “The March of the Penguins.” He is shooting a... more

Lured by timeless volcanoes, sweeping glaciers, and medieval landscapes, three journalists and friends descend on Iceland, an island of mystery and intrigue, isolated high in the North Atlantic Ocean, cresting the artic circle. The trio aims to... more

Annette Kniffler, Christian Rottenberger and Andreas Seiler wanted to climb the 8000 m peak Gasherbrum in Pakistan. This would not be particularly unusual had they not travelled on their bicycles to arrive there. Talking to Michael Pause, they... more

The Alps of Europe are the most famous mountain range in the world. They gave birth to the „alpinism“, however, they are not the only „Alps“. Three further mountain massifs exist which have been given the same name by their first European... more

CO2 and climate change influence our environment in quite different ways. In the tropical rainforest, especially in the treetops, the first signs that might well fundamentally change the rainforest eco-system can already be seen. Dr Jörg Salzer, a... more

Freediving is diving only with a mask and a snorkel. For years it has been a dream of Stig Aavall Severinsen, World Champion in this discipline, to dive and interact with the beautiful and mesmerizing Killer Whales. Stig takes the viewer deep down... more

In „The Great Warming“, Keanu Reeves and Alanis Morissette present an alarming snapshot of our planet which is endangered by the impending climate change. Through real life stories they document how our living space is threatened by the increasing... more

Without any doubt the Antarctic is the most remote land on our planet. The threemaster “Europa” glides through a magic world of fantastic ice sculptures, in a mystic light along majestic rock faces. After 30 years, this is the first big sailing... more

On his journey from Vienna to his homeland South Tyrol, Reinhold Messner first travels through the cold Eastern Alps. Full of spirits, Sepp Holzer, the “rebel farmer”, demonstrates how you can let nature work for you in mixed cultivation. On his... more

The inhabitants of Sicily call the 3350 metre high Mount Etna “Mongibello”, the mountain of the mountains. Almost every eruption changes its altitude. Since everything is under constant change, the mountain guides, such as Alfio Mazzaglia, have to... more

Super Mole is a light-hearted and insightful profile of one of the most amazing and industrious animals on earth – the mole. This film ventures deep underground to reveal the incredible story of how this little mammal survives and thrives. Here we... more

A man and a woman with two different views about wild animals... plus an orphaned otter pup... Hungary has one of the strongest populations of otters in the world. The story revolves around the orphaned otter pup Viki. Through her dramatic,... more

In extreme landscapes such as the High Alps, the powers of nature and the needs of men differ in the utmost way. Eternal ice and snow masses make mountain passes inaccessible for months. Thunderstorms, storms and hail destroy the harvests... more

George Chance spent the 1970's becoming the most accomplished photographer of the New Zealand Falcon; now some thirty years later he is suffering from ill health and going blind. Filmmaker Sandy Crichton, looking for advice on how to film this... more

Giant pouched rats the size of cats have an unusual job in Africa: they detect land mines. For one year, these rodents undergo a special formation and day by day become used to the smell of explosives. Especially in Mozambique, which was... more

The totally entangled roots in the brackish water of the tropical and sub-tropical coasts, where fresh water and salt water mix, form a unique habitat – the Mangroves. They are important breeding grounds for innumerous spieces of fish and... more

Laurent Soulier is a parasitologist specialized in marine mammals. He thinks he can save entire populations of whales by studying their lice! His mission is now to collect these precious parasites from living cetaceans... One whale is the size of... more

Turkey is a bridge between Europe and Asia. Throughout history numerous species of animals and plants have migrated to Turkey from the Mediterranean region, the cool north, the steppes and mountain ranges of Asia and even from the arid... more

The effects of climate change have a profound impact on our planet. French explorer Claude Lorius was one of the first to realize that the bubbles of air often trapped inside the ice would be unique indicators helping to reconstitute the climate... more

Elephants keep walking until they find water, every year to another place. If necessary, they overcome incredible distances. In the last century, frontiers, fences, residential areas and mined territories hindered the elphants’ movement almost... more

The Isen Valley (“Isental”) is one of the view Bavarian valleys in which there have not been built roads yet. From its source in Maitenbeth to where it flows into the Inn, the river Isen is about 76 km long. Cultivated and natural landscape merge... more

The „Hochschwab“ is probably the most impressive massif on the eastern edge of the Alps. At the foot of the Hochschwab to its south you find one of the most stunning and imposing landscapes of the area, the “Tragößerland”. Surrounded by the steep... more

In the heart of Europe there is a wild mountain landscape: the High Tatra. Like a well-kept secret this mountain range towers into the sky in the north of Slovakia. Watching the nature of the High Tatra means to undertake a journey in time, back... more

Two kayakers embark on the longest-ever biofuels-only road trip 35,000 kilometers from Alaska to Argentina in a retro-fitted Japanese fire truck named Baby. They converted their regular diesel engine to run on any kind of natural oil and followed... more

It is considered as one of the most beautiful river landscapes on earth – the Wachau. Beside the National Park Donauauen, this is the only Austrian section of the Danube, where the river flows freely. Rocky narrowings alternate with smoothly... more

The inner Karwendel is an area embedded between Bavaria and Tyrol, a real gem that is hardly populated. Although this region belongs to Austria, it is only accessible from Bavaria. The film shows the local fauna and flora throughout the year, from... more

The film is composed of time accelerated sequences which reveal the beauty of the Italian Dolomite mountains as time passes and seasons change: clouds perform intricate dances with the mighty peaks, night falls and stars appear to create their own... more

The Swiss Alps are Alps as we know them from picture books. The journey starts at the Eiger, a myth, where Reinhold Messner abseils from the north face together with Stephan Gruber, a permafrost reasearcher, in order to examine how climate change... more

Water is life, for without water nothing on earth can exist. But water can also mean death and destruction. When rivers flood their banks, then the element reveals its devastating power. Yet life in nature waits longingly each year for this event... more

What would happen if all of a sudden there were no people on planet Earth? How and how fast would nature react to such a change? A remote place in Europe gives an answer to these questions. There we find a village that has been abandoned and... more

What is it that makes the relationship of humans living in the Alps and their home, the Alps, become so close? Hardly any other region in the Alps offers such great, sometimes truely grotesque contradictions within a limited space as the Ötztal... more

Peter Ragg lived an ordinary life as optician in his Austrian home town, until one day he made his dream of flying come true. He bought a Cessna and settled in Africa. Since then, he has had the most incredible adventures in the air: he flew wild... more

This film portrays the researcher and scientist Fridtjof Nansen. In the course of his expeditions, he carried out extensive gathering and measuring of meteorological and geophysical data in the Arctic Ocean. Nansen's ground-breaking ideas are... more

Who on earth knows that mouflon were introduced onto Sardinia about 6000 before Christ? Supposedly, the shy small wild sheep were brought all the way from Asia Minor to the Iberian Peninsula during the neolithic period – probably for cultic... more