Critters

In February 2013 a film crew led by documentary filmmaker David Sington will leave Montevideo in Uruguay for a voyage across the South Atlantic into the stormiest waters on Earth. Their destination will be a rendezvous with the Saga Sea, a high-technology trawler operating in the Antarctic Ocean. It will be a voyage to the latest and possibly last frontier between industrial civilization and the natural world, in search of a mysterious sea creature which for decades has held the promise of transforming human nutrition: krill. Could the exploitation of krill improve diet across the globe, or will it simply lead to the collapse of one of the most important ecosystems on the planet?

In French Polynesia, there is a place where every year, thousands of groupers gather in secret followed by hundreds of sharks… The photographer, diver and biologist Laurent Ballesta, with his team, wanted to better understand what motivates these fish to wait until the exact day of the full moon to spawn all at once! With the help of researchers from the CNRS of Moorea, they dived and conducted numerous experiments to study and witness this unique phenomenon. Taking advantage of this period of incredible richness, Laurent Ballesta did a record dive of 24 hours at over 20 meters.

Satoshi Kuribayashi and his team filmed the insects for over an astonishing 430 days, resulting in breathtaking images and scenes from a still fairly unknown world. Watch a mantis sneak up on its prey and catch it with its razor sharp claws. Experience a deadly, thrilling wasp fight. Sit back and watch the world of the insects unfold before you like you have never experienced it before.

Venturing into the wilds of China, "Born in China" captures intimate moments with a panda bear and her growing cub, a young golden monkey who feels displaced by his baby sister, and a mother snow leopard struggling to raise her two cubs.

Berlin is a metropolis, a big city with international flair and at the same time the habitat of countless raccoons, foxes, bats, squirrels, hedgehogs and beavers. There is at least one pair of birds for every human inhabitant of Berlin, and nowhere else are there so many sparrows and nightingales. Swarms of bees harvest honey from almost half a million city trees, a badger roams through a backyard, and praying mantises lurk for prey in railroad tracks.

National Geographic filmmakers, Dereck and Beverly Joubert, explore how some animals are thrust together by the forces of nature-sometimes through a millennium of evolution or even last year’s drought. In the aftermath of strange elephant deaths, they piece together a visually stunning story that confirms their theory that lions were hunting elephants. Narrated by Jeremy Irons.

Gordon Buchanan goes to meet the world's cutest animals to reveal their hidden biology, and find out why people have such a strong emotional response to them.

With spring, the first lapwing eggs appear. A short impression of the Friesian tradition of egg collecting.

Documentary on the different stages in the development from caterpillar to butterfly.

Songbirds are disappearing at an alarming rate. The Messenger is a visually thrilling ode to the beauty and importance of the imperiled songbird, and what it means to all of us on both a global and human level if we lose them.

Kerkini: The Bird Sanctuary

Recorded Live on August 11, 2013, KEXP and Nature Consortium presents Cloud Cult performing at Camp Long during the 15th Arts in Nature Festival.

A fascinating insight into three great African predators—lions, cheetahs and leopards— and their relationship with each other, and the rest of the African fauna. Their remarkable hunting strategies ensure their survival, but in the Mala Mala, South Africa, which will will the Big Cat Challenge?

"Origins" takes a journey through the biological roots of where we have come from and where we have gone. Using fire as a metaphor for technology, the film looks at the advances of our civilization and how the recklessness of unchecked technology is now choking out the environment and poisoning our bodies. Interviews with the biggest names in the health and green space create compelling context and arguments for how we can better coexist with nature. "Origins" shows how man, technology, and nature can walk together in balance.

It's the most dangerous delicacy in the world. Despite incidents of poisoning year after year, the popularity of this exotic dish in Japan remains unbroken. The Japanese blowfish fugu contains one of the deadliest poisons known to man, 1250 times more potent than cyanide. If the cook isn't skilled in the use of a filet knife, the gourmet meal could become a death sentence for the restaurant guest.

Akira Kurosawa’s only television work—a lyrical documentary that follows a thoroughbred from birth and training to the Japan Derby—framed by a grandfather’s narration to his grandson about the fading bond between people and horses.

Photographer Joe Bunni's search for clues and his images of the habitat "5 meters below and above the surface of the sea" are the focus of this breathtaking documentary. An extraordinary life is concentrated in this space between air and sea... Among other things, the film shows the catastrophic consequences of global warming and unforgivable environmental pollution, and looks for ways to preserve these natural habitats.

Acoustic Ocean is an artistic exploration of the sonic ecology of marine life in the North Atlantic. Located on the Lofoten Islands in Northern Norway, the video centers on the performance of a marine-biologist diver who is using a life-size model of a submersible equipped with all sorts of hydrophones and recording devices. In this science-fictional quest, her task is to sense the submarine space for acoustic and bioluminescent forms of expression.

Each of the twelve 50-minute episodes features a different aspect of the journey through life, from birth to adulthood and continuation of the species through reproduction.

This movie was created to highlight the overwhelming amount of scientific information pointing to human extinction in the very near future.