Howard Nightingall

MA 2412 - Die Staatsdiener

In no other province have as many cultural buildings been erected in the last two decades as in Lower Austria.The documentary Building for the Arts presents a few outstanding examples of this cultural development.Starting with St. Pölten’s cultural district and the “Art Mile” in Krems, we show how contemporary architecture has uniformly established itself - from the revitalization of historic sites, including monasteries and castles, to the construction of sensational new buildings. The viewer will be led through the broad spectrum of exceptional building culture in Lower Austria, a culture which provides art, theater and music with the plentiful and spectacular stages it deserves.

Once upon a time... There were four young men of different nationalities: Spanish, Italian, Swedish and British, a one-pound business deal that ends up becoming a one-hundred-thousand pound business deal, and a legend: The Legend of David Pilgrim. This is the basic idea behind The Pilgrim Factor, a story half-way between a comedy and a tale, about anonymous characters who accidentally happen to come across something that could prove doubtful the authenticity of the world's most famous rock group. All this takes place right in the centre of "Chicken Town"... a city where everything is possible... even a story like this one.

A Kellergasse – the cellar lane – is one of the distinguishing cultural and physical features of the winegrowing region Niederösterreich – Lower Austria. There are more than a thousand of them. Until recently, wine was not only stored in the Kellergasse, but pressed and fermented there as well. Today, the Kellergassen have less to do with occupation and more with recreation. A documentary by Georg Riha follows a year in the life of this valuable cultural legacy.

Sambesi - Der donnernde Fluss

Sambesi - Quelle des Lebens

The Habsburg Dynasty had ruled large parts of Europe and the world for 650 years. During World War I, however, the mighty Austro-Hungarian Empire sowed the seeds of its own demise. At the height of World War I, the world of the Habsburgs was on the brink of collapse. Almost exactly 100 years ago to the day, in April 1918, the most sensitive diplomatic mission of the First World War became a Europe-wide scandal: the so-called "Sixtus Affair". Secret negotiations between the Austrian imperial family and France were supposed to bring peace to the Danube monarchy – and their failure caused the war to escalate and the Habsburgs to fall.

How Much We Hated Each Other

The climate is changing, global temperature is rising. The impacts are already apparent, especially in the mountains but also in the lowlands. The permafrost zone is shifting higher up and the masses of snow melt whooshing from the glaciers to the valleys are already increasing incessantly. Rivers are going to rise up to powerful floods and dwindle down to extremely low waters the next second.

Discover the incredible story of a group of dedicated people working to protect one of the planet’s last refuges for Africa's iconic wildlife.

Between wealth and scarcity - Brazil's wilderness is dominated by water. It is an adventurous journey that brings the precious elixir of life from the Atlantic into the interior...

The true story of Catherine Dunbar's struggle with anorexia, that began when she was 15.

In some cultures, jackals were pursued and condemned as pests that fed on parasite-infested carcasses. In others, such as Ancient Egypt, they were divinely celebrated. This documentary accompanies a young scientist, who is drawn to these mythical mammals, and takes us on a journey to explore golden jackals, from Egypt to the barren hills of Greece.

From mighty peaks, formed by powerful natural forces, to one of the last largely intact floodplain landscapes in central Europe; from vast, sunbaked plains that provide refuge for innumerable creatures have only recently returned to the ravines of the border regions – Austria’s national parks were created to protect some of the most diverse, captivating landscapes and fascinating species at the heart of the European continent.

Travel from the steamy delta beyond New Orleans, upstream to headwaters in great northern swamps, and along the Mississippi's greatest tributary, the Missouri. The crew encounter a wealth of wildlife, from tropical manatees to ancient horseshoe crabs, primitive giant fish, colorful herons, industrious beavers, deadly rattlesnakes, herds of buffalo, and prairie dog colonies. Dramatic reconstructions illustrate what the river was like when the first explorers encountered it, meeting Indian tribes and witnessing new wildlife spectacles.