Nature's Double Lifters

Hop on a high-speed endurance adventure through one of the harshest environments on Earth. Glyn Maude follows a family of brown hyenas in Botswana's desolate saltpans of the Makgadikgadi.

This film uncovers the intriguing mystery of the return of the African rhino. In the 1800s there were more than 500,000 white and black rhinos in Africa. But by the 1990s, ivory poaching had left less than 7,000 animals alive. Remarkably, today their numbers have risen to 11,000. But there is now a new, deadly threat. Charging Back starts at the Pilansberg Game Reserve, where mysterious, unseen assailants were killing rhinos. Poachers could not be blamed, as the horns remained intact. Unexpectedly, the perpetrators prove to be relocated adolescent elephants, orphaned in culls. Lack of family structure has turned them into aggressive delinquents - a problem which conservation authorities now address by importing the steadying influence of older bulls. In astonishing scenes, the attackers are captured red-handed. Without the least provocation, elephants launch vicious assaults on unsuspecting rhinos.

Life is a challenge for a young seal in the untamed waters off the southern tip of Africa. Every day is a struggle for survival, whether he's avoiding aggressive seal bulls or escaping a great white shark. This is the story of a courageous little seal who braves the ocean and its perils, and leaves his colony, to follow one of the greatest migrations on Earth - the Sardine Run.

The Sardine Run - One of the most spectacular marine wildlife events in the world. Millions of sardines swim along the South coast of Africa pursued by thousands of dolphins, countless sharks and gannets, all competing for nature's bounty. Meanwhile, every fisherman on the south coast of Africa also races to exploit the generosity of this vast ocean.

Documentary which follows crocodile expert Brad Bestelink on a quest to dive with crocodiles without a cage or any other protection.

“Balance of Life” is a film about life’s and human kinds’ fight to find the balance between our own evolving life style and the nature of the planet we inhabit. The human race is drifting further and further away from its real roots and from what being a human is really about. The speed of development has increased to a state where humans have a hard time keeping up. We find ourselves in a situation where both our own and the planets’ wellbeing is severely threatened. As a last resort human is relying on faith to find the balance. Is faith the last defense of man or is this world guided by forces greater than us? Is this force God, evolution or just the mere sum of coincidences that formed the universe, the natural order and laws of physics?’ Watch it here (https://vimeo.com/51203265)

One of the most mysterious animals to inhabit the jungle is the pygmy hippopotamus - up to 300 kg in weight, just 2 meters long, and 80 cm tall, and a true loner. Since its discovery in 1844, generations of researchers have attempted to study it in the wild - but in vain. Although it proved possible to catch a few specimens for zoos, no one ever got to see them before they were already inside the trap. They eluded the gaze of the researchers like phantoms under the protection of the enchanted forest. These are the first ever pictures of pygmy hippopotami in their natural surroundings - the rain forest of West Africa. Set amid stories about their habitat, the film allows a first impression of this timid creature's life. While their ten-times heavier relatives are loud and gregarious and live in open stretches of water, the pygmy hippopotamus moves furtively through the thick undergrowth.

A documentary of insect life in meadows and ponds, using incredible close-ups, slow motion, and time-lapse photography. It includes bees collecting nectar, ladybugs eating mites, snails mating, spiders wrapping their catch, a scarab beetle relentlessly pushing its ball of dung uphill, endless lines of caterpillars, an underwater spider creating an air bubble to live in, and a mosquito hatching.

People's associations with flora goes back a long way, taking us back to our own roots as well as to new ways of life and creative potential that reveal themselves as we deal with plants.

In this critical investigation into the most arresting victims of the climate emergency, biologist Ella Al-Shamahi joins a specialist autopsy into the death of a 40-foot sei whale, which washed up near Edinburgh. Across the 90-minute single doc, Ella sets out to uncover why whales are dying in record numbers and whether or not the crisis is man-made.

A clumsy hunter goes into the forest to hunt. But is he successful with his interesting methods of tracking game?

A documentary on Al Gore's campaign to make the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide.

Ibogaine is a plant extract that stops drug addiction. In this documentary, a 34-year-old heroin addict undergoes ibogaine therapy with Dr Martin Polanco at the Ibogaine Association, a clinic in Rosarito, Mexico. In Gabon, where use of the iboga root is traditional, a Babongo woman's tribe uses the plant to help her recover from a depressive malaise. Director Benjamin De Loenen interviews people formerly addicted to heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine, who share their perspectives about ibogaine treatment.

After driving for about 5000km* we felt the need to slow down a bit and to continue our journey on foot. The energy of the landscape conveys the strength and power of Nature in a pristine environment. Two weeks walking in the woods, enjoying the rhythm and the breathtaking views of the North.

On Zambia's Liuwa Plain two star-crossed spotted hyena cubs are born to warring rival clans: Twaambo, a male cub and Nasanta, a female, are destined to lead converging lives as their extreme environment forces them together

For her entire professional life, renowned ecologist Nalini Nadkarni pioneered climbing techniques to study "what grows back” after an ecological disturbance in the rainforest canopy. Now, after surviving a life-threatening fall from a tree, she must turn her research question onto herself in order to understand the effects of disturbance and recovery throughout her life.

Nature, Le Nouvel Eldorado de la Finance

During lockdown, Telmo Esnal recovered a long-forgotten project: 'UR', a tale by Pablo Azkue taking a deep look at the conscience and the sea. 'Urtzen' is a special cinematic essay, a curious collage which, recycling and reusing dialogues, images and music, reflects on existence.

"There are things in this world that are yet to be named" centers around Solanum plastisexum - an Australian tomato whose sexual expression is unpredictable and unstable, challenging even the fluid norms of the plant kingdom. Footage of the team of botanists who recently used their Solanum research to explode notions of sexual normativity in any plant or animal is combined with a voiceover of letters sent between science writer Rachel Carson and her lover Dorothy Freeman. "There are things in this world that are yet to be named" is a meditation on erasure, indefinability, and the intersection of queer and environmental histories.

With Olin's 85-year-old father as guide, we experience Norway's most adventurous valley, Oldedalen in Nordfjord. He grew up here, and here generations before him have lived in balance with nature.