Kerkini: The Bird Sanctuary

It's springtime, the air is tepid, the skylarks chirp, and spring flowers cover the meadows and the forest grounds. Out of a pile of leaves a fluttery, sniffling snout tip appears: it's a hedgehog awakening from its winter sleep heading into the light of a new year, having only two things in mind: food and finding a partner.

An encounter at Jardim Zoológico de Lisboa shot in 16mm by JMG+PP.

For 70 years, the population of the wapiti deer in the Yellowstone National Park in the United States increased unchecked. Without natural predators and despite all human attempts to check the increase of the deer population they kept spreading and destroyed vast regions of the park's vegetation. They literally defoliated the National Park. However, a well-directed reintroduction of 41 wolves between 1995 and 1997 worked wonders: The animals restored the natural balance in the National Park.

Poisonous snakes are among the most deadly feared, yet fascinating creatures on earth. They strike their prey with pin-point precision, injecting lethal doses of poison. Now, for the first time on video, you can take an inside look at the exciting world of these intriguing reptiles. Witness lightening quick strikes and live capture scenes of America's most deadly snakes, the Rattler, Water Moccasin and the Coral Snakes. Join host and expert snake handler Bob Popplewell as he separates myth from reality!

Bonobos show a particularly pronounced sexual activity and an extraordinarily broad spectrum of sexual contacts for primates. These also extend to non-reproductive life phases and partner combinations. For example, homosexual contacts and sexual contacts between young animals or with adults are frequent, and females are ready to mate throughout the menstrual cycle. Bonobos use sexual contacts not only for reproductive purposes, but also in the context of social conflicts, where they have a clear tension-reducing or peacemaking function.

The Film “Life with Vultures” is about the efforts of a handful of NGOs and Government Agencies to save the only remaining Vulture species on the island of Cyprus, and by extension several other species of Birds and other wild animals

The giant squid is a creature of legend and myth which, even in the 21st century, has never been seen alive. But now, an international team of scientists thinks it has finally found its lair, 1,000 metres down, off the coast of Japan. This is the culmination of decades of research. The team deploys underwater robots and state-of-the-art submersible vessels for a world first - to find and film the impossible.

Groundbreaking documentary which follows a Japanese-led team of scientists as they attempt to shed light on the mysterious world of deep sea sharks. Only 50 specimens of the newly discovered 'megamouth' have ever been sighted. Over four years, scientists and film crews voyaged in midget submarines into the depths of Suruga Bay and Sagami Bay to film them. Prehistoric 'living fossil' sharks such as bluntnose sixgill sharks, goblin sharks and frilled sharks also lurk in the depths. As part of the investigation, a sperm whale carcass was placed at the bottom of the sea to attract these sharks, which were then studied and observed from the submersible vessels. Revealing in detail the previously unknown behaviour of deep sea sharks, the film unravels another of the intriguing mysteries of our planet's biodiversity.

When the night falls, the sky comes alive. A flutter of wings that, for some, is the stuff of nightmares. One in every four mammals on the planet is a bat. But fear for these creatures is often misplaced, not all bats are blood-sucking beasts. The world of bats is incredibly diverse with some beautifully bizarre adaptations.

“At which point do you let go?…” – This is the central question of “Vios”, a short documentary that tracks the last days of a dog suffering from terminal cancer and how its owners struggle with the critical decision: whether or not to euthanise her. Shot over a 6-month period by the owners, Wendy and Ler, this intimate documentary is an unfettered access into the lives of the flmmakers, exposing their deepest vulnerabilities in face of this crisis, which had crushed their fnances and strained their relationship. Through their personal story, Wendy and Ler hope to create more awareness for dogs with cancer in Singapore and around the world.

“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)

United by the planet's biggest conservation project -- The Red List -- conservation heroes around the world are risking everything to save giraffe, gorillas, big cats and other endangered wildlife.

In Androusa, in the Kalamata region of Messinia, in the Peloponnese, Greece. This region produces what is considered to be the finest olive oil in the world. It's made from the Koroneiki olive, it is a very small olive, but also very rich and aromatic. Together with a cold extraction and a slow fermentation process, Koroneiki olive oil tastes like no other, a true nectar of the gods. This is the land of ancient myths and heroes, after all. Lets decover it with Dimitra Mathiopoulou, Oliver Oil Taster, University of Peloponnese Olive Oil Tasting Panel, Co-founder of "The Olive Routes" with her husband as the fifht-generation owner of the olive oil mill. They create and market Messiniako Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil (ΔΗΩ Certification), with PDO Kalamata label. Documentary from: Food Insider | Regional Eats

A newly discovered mega-hunt is happening off the coast of South Africa. In an epic annual spectacle in False Bay, a pod of cunning killer whales hunt 5,000 common dolphins.

A visual experiment on the different types of movement in a city.

A Hong Kong Newt once resided in a narrow irrigation channel, believing it would be confined there forever. However, an unexpected flood swept it away, carrying it through a dark passage until it arrived in a serene, azure pond. The newt found companionship among its kind and thrived in the aquatic haven. But as it ventured back onto land after the breeding season, it encountered unforeseen threats.

Unknown short stories from the past, the present and the future of fascism and its relation to the economic interests of each era. We will travel from Mussolini’s Italy to Greece under the Nazi occupation, the civil war and the dictatorship; and from Hitler’s Germany to the modern European and Greek fascism.

U.S. Route 101, de Seattle à la Californie

In this filmic comment on Fascist ideology - which uses footage from the recently discovered archives of Luca Comerio - invisible hands push captive animals to fight among themselves.

The full live performance from VIC's headline show at Faliro Sports Pavilion Arena in Athens, GR on February 15th 2020.