This documentary, the final film directed by Frank Capra, explores America's plans for the future of space exploration. It was produced by the Martin-Marietta Corporation for exhibition in the Hall of Science at the 1964 New York World's Fair.
Whales have long been a profound mystery to us. They live in a world so removed from our own that we can barely imagine their lives. Their environment is different, their senses are different, their relationships are different. How might such almost alien creatures see the world?
Whoever came up with the term 'bird brain' never met these feathered thinkers, who use their claws and beaks to solve puzzles, make tools and more.
Salango is a small parish south of Manabí. What this land means to Ecuador, however, is huge. Its name is associated with the pre-Columbian legacy of the Manta Wancavilca cultures, the humpback whales that arrive each year to mate, the homonymous island and its coral reefs, the great wealth of marine fauna. It is there, in one of the places with the greatest archeological and environmental heritage of our country, where the Polar fishmeal processor has been operating for 35 years. What does not emerge from the idyllic postcards of the area is the foul smell that pollutes the air, the portrait of people sick from the factory's toxic wastes, the disgusting black smoke that flows into the sea directly from the processor pipeline. That is why it is the struggle of the few members of the community who have not given up and demand that Polar leave.
Each year, far from human eyes, a remote expanse of Botswana's Makgadikgadi salt pans hosts one of Africa's last great spectacles when thousands of striped nomads wander the breathtakingly beautiful but barren landscape. It is only by the grace of isolated summer rains that the zebras can survive here at all. Family groups gather together to follow the rains, driven by a constant search for better grazing on islands of grass that dot the pans. Meerkat families watch the zebras come and go, and families of lions wait for them along their grueling trek, hoping for a chance to bring one down. Their journey is one that is sometimes limited by the fragility of new life, but always made possible by the strong family ties that help animals survive in one of Africa's most surreal landscapes. It's a tale of loyalty and sacrifice, of home and exile, of death and new life, in southern Africa's largest zebra population.
In Franklin, West Virginia, something magical is happening in the local streams! A native trout species pushed to the brink of extinction is making a remarkable comeback. Working with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Partners for Fish & Wildlife, local farmers, ranchers and the community at large are uniting behind this incredible restoration effort. The short film "Little Stream, Big Magic" captures the beauty of West Virginia's famous fly-fishing rivers in stunning detail and delivers a heartwarming story of people's resilience and dedication to conservation. Produced by the award-winning film team Tandem Stills + Motion, Inc. in cooperation with the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program (PFW) and Trout Unlimited (TU), the film provides an important perspective to further engage with private landowners in the community on the benefits of restoring trout habitat. This beautiful and uplifting film shows audiences what's possible for grassroots conservation nationally.
The second IMAX film made, commissioned by the Ontario Government, and produced by MultiScreen Corporation, later to become IMAX corporation. North of Superior is a Northern Ontario travelogue, and was the first short feature to be shown at the newly created Ontario government theme park, Ontario Place, in it's state of the art cinema, Cinesphere, the first permanent IMAX installation.
In the frigid valleys of Japan's Shiga Highlands, a troop of snow monkeys make their way and raise their families in a complex society of rank and privilege where each knows their place. Their leader is still new to the job and something of a solitary grouch. But one little monkey, innocently unaware of his own lowly social rank, reaches out to this lonely leader, forming a bond with him that manages over time to warm his less than sunny disposition. It is a rare and remarkable gesture that alters both their lives. Changing seasons bring new babies to care for, a profusion of insects and blossoms to eat, family disagreements to squabble over and tragedies to overcome. Mating season brings competition for females, as the days grow shorter and colder in a rush toward winter. But with their now confident leader to guide them and their families to shelter and care for them, this troop of snow monkeys is ready to face the world.
Elephants disrupt the lives of a family deep in the jungles of Northern Siam, and an entire village.
Journey to a secret valley in Australia, where a nervous baby kangaroo named Mala faces hungry dingoes and winter snows in this coming-of-age adventure.
This documentary follows the harsh and competitive life of Addo, a male lion born into a successful pride.
The story of life on our planet by the man who has seen more of the natural world than any other. In more than 90 years, Attenborough has visited every continent on the globe, exploring the wild places of our planet and documenting the living world in all its variety and wonder. Addressing the biggest challenges facing life on our planet, the film offers a powerful message of hope for future generations.
From PBS - The fascinating story of beavers in North America - their history, their near extinction, and their current comeback, as a growing number of scientists, conservationists and grass-roots environmentalists have come to regard beavers as overlooked tools when it comes to reversing the disastrous effects of global warming and world-wide water shortages. Once valued for their fur or hunted as pests, these industrious rodents are seen in a new light through the eyes of this novel assembly of beaver enthusiasts and "employers" who reveal the ways in which the presence of beavers can transform and revive landscapes. Using their skills as natural builders and brilliant hydro-engineers, beavers are being recruited to accomplish everything from re-establishing water sources in bone-dry deserts to supporting whole communities of wildlife drawn to the revitalizing aquatic ecosystems their ponds provide.
National Geographic gets 10 experts to pick the most significant natural disasters ever, adding eyewitness accounts and CGI to flesh out the stories.
Iceland's first non-narrative full-feature film's focus is set on presenting Iceland in a way it has never been presented before, using various elements of high-end cinematography. There are places everyone knows, but there are also thousands of well hidden places. To find these locations one has to be adventurous or a local, and to capture them right, one has to be creative and extremely patient.
Disneynature’s Elephant follows African elephant Shani and her spirited son Jomo as their herd make an epic journey hundreds of miles across the vast Kalahari Desert. Led by their great matriarch, Gaia, the family faces brutal heat, dwindling resources and persistent predators, as they follow in their ancestors’ footsteps on a quest to reach a lush, green paradise.
In Pica Pica Kristersson invites the viewer to be enthralled for an hour and a half by the vicissitudes of magpie life. Opposing himself to the current nature films that tend to highly compress time in order to end up with a concentrated sequence of action-elements Kristersson leaves rhythm and tempo almost completely up to the magpies themselves. With great integrity he filmed the daily, social and emotional life of a species of birds that has many points of contact with human life. Thus, the movie offers us the oppurtunity to view our own everyday existence through other eyes, from a world right above our heads, but yet so far away.
Shot mainly using spy cameras, this film gets closer than ever before to the world's greatest land predator. As the film captures its intimate portrait of polar bears' lives, it reveals how their intelligence and curiosity help them cope in a world of shrinking ice.
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Galapagos Suite is a 17-minute compilation of 16 days sailing around the Galapagos archipelago aboard the Anahi catamaran. It seeks to encapsulate and capture the experience with intimate videography by Jim Lawrence and an original music score by Christian Jessup.