Nature and Environment

We cannot see it, smell it or taste it; nevertheless, all life on earth would be condemned to perish without it: the atmosphere. The former German astronaut Thomas Reiter invites us to a journey around the globe, to show us the composition of the... more

Looking behind the recent furore surrounding the science of climate change, the Dutch journalist Bernice Notenboom searches out the views of local Sherpa communities and records the concrete physical changes actually occurring in the Khumbu... more

The 16 year-old nomad Sergei lives in the north eastern steppes of Siberia, and despite his young age his father has decided to make him the new herdsman of the reindeer herd. He has to lead the herd of three thousand animals to the higher planes... more

The mines of Messel near Frankfurt, which are 47 million years old, are an Eldorado for paleontologists searching for petrified animals and plants. This place was once a lake surrounded by tropical jungle. The scientists are now looking for a... more

The Nockberge are not a flat land but a three dimensional landscape. Even the real locals living on the Nockberge are astonished when they see their mountains for the first time in a new 3D technology. This new film about the National Park... more

In the animal world of the Gran Paradiso, one has not seen wolves for more than one hundred years. This ancestor of our dogs had been wiped out in large parts of Europe. However, in Italy, the wolf managed to survive thanks to the remote ridges of... more

The tough laws of nature rule the mountains of Tyrol, in this steep world one can find the richest diversity in the smallest space. For thousands of years, man has been living in those mountains. As far as we know, it was particularly one thing... more

Icy, hard slopes covered with artificial snow and reckless racers – the number of severe ski accidents is increasing. Doctors specializing in accident medicine report: on certain days, the situation in the accident and emergency centres is... more

Is a cornfield only a place for producing food? Or is it a living space full of mysteries? Does it have something in common with true nature at all? With spectacular pictures this film takes the public to living spaces right outside of our doors... more

They are the biggest predators on earth. Pot whales were already a myth in the antique times, and they still are today. For a long time, scientists thought that pot whales in the Mediterranean Sea were animals which had lost their way, because... more

Volcanoes cause overwhelming amazement but of course they also scare us. Time and time again, volcano eruptions have ended in disasters, memories burnt into the collective memory of mankind. This film journey leads us to Hawaii, to the Kilauea,... more

In the Grand Atlas Mountains in Morocco, the Ait Bouguemez Valley is well-known for its great natural beauty, which is conserved by its inhabitants. This ancient community living in such a remote area seems to hold the key to environmental... more

Egon Rusina is a south-Tyrolean painter and illustrator. His oeuvre is marked by his discomfort with the society of South Tyrol and at the same time by the force of attraction of his Ladin homeland. After satire, caricature or cartoon and the... more

The Greina has become a national symbol for the protection and the beauty of nature. In former times, this high plane, as the border region between Grisons and Ticino, has seen many conflicts. Since the 1980ies, when this area was protected... more

They belong to one of the rarest ape species and they live exclusively in the border region between Nigeria and Cameroon: the Cross-River-Gorillas. Their way of life is hardly known and until now they have never been filmed in the wild. The keeper... more

Billfish are renowned for their formidable spears and sword-like bills, the species includes the spectacular marlin, swordfish, and sailfish. We embark on an extraordinary quest far out into the planet’s open oceans in search of an elusive 500kg,... more

The biodiversity in the Phong Nha-Ke Bang national park in Vietnam is impressive. Here, in the green spinney of this barely accessible region, animals and plants live which cannot be found elsewhere. Since the UNESCO has declared this park as a... more

Birds are true high-achievers: they are astonishly intelligent, are endued with a GPS in their beak, and they can travel non-stop for 7.500km. How do migrant birds manage to adapt their migrant comportment to the currently changing climate... more

Every second six sharks die in the oceans of our planet. Every year, 200 millions of these animals are killed by men. The economic exploitation of sharks has caused the danger of extinction for 70 shark species. A sad balance – and still sharks... more

Telling the story of the world’s tallest living trees, Redwoods: Anatomy of a Giant follows Humboldt State University’s Steve Sillett - the first researcher to explore the redwood canopy. To say that he likes redwoods is like saying Edmund Hillary... more

Japan is mega cities like Tokyo on the one hand-side, and remote mountain valleys with seemingly strange traditions on the other. This island full of contrasts extends 3000 km from north to south. In the extreme north on the island Hokkaido one... more

Seth Warren embarks on a petroleum-free journey with his nature powered fire truck named Baby, tracking the life cycle of water through the seasons. Featuring stunning and often daring footage, Nature Propelled demonstrates the connection between... more

Near Bremen, swans have disappeared from the surface of water. On the Lake Starnberg, a desperate fisherman struggled for ten hours in his boat which was pulled to and fro by a fish. In the Vitava, a fish stomach with parts of a human body in it,... more

In Alaska, all animals are big ones: the bears, the elks, the wolves. No wonder nobody takes notice of the little ones. Ernst Arendt and Hans Schweiger meet the little, charming Alaskan pika with their cameras. In summer, they collect hay and... more

At first sight, the forgotten valley in the French Alps seems like a paradise. However, every animal there has to live a daily struggle for survival. In this film we can watch how the destiny of an injured chamois buck is connected with the... more

The film is about the struggle of a Scottish ski resort to adapt to the consequences of the climate change and the decrease in skiers. It portrays the changing landscape and challenges which the small communities are facing, but also looks at the... more

The glacier is dying. A death throe lasting millennia which wipes away an entire world drop by drop, and leaves a new one in its place. Waterfalls and caves are created and provide our most essential resource: water. But they are also a source of... more

There is a place in India, where man and nature created a unique treasure. The former hunting ground of the maharaja of Bharatpur has become a birds’ paradise in a mere 100 years. However, it has turned out recently that this treasure is more... more

The Mediterranean Monk Seal is the most endangered mammal of Europe: Less than 500 individuals are remaining in parts of the Mediterranean Sea. Scientists don’t know much about the habits of these rare pinnipeds who nowadays use inaccessible sea... more

Along a distance of 400 km steep mountains, lush forests, waterfalls and mountain lakes extend in the pristine Pyrenean landscape between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. The sun and the clouds play with the light of the mountains,... more

Japan is mega cities like Tokyo on the one hand-side, and remote mountain valleys with seemingly strange traditions on the other. The most southern of the four main Japanese islands, Kyushu, displays an already sub-tropical character. In the... more

Thirty years ago, on the 18th of May 1980, the volcano Mount St. Helens erupted on the west coast of the USA. It was an eruption of unbelievable dimensions. Within a few minutes, the mountain lost 400 metres of its summit, and masses of debris and... more