PROJECTION: 2D

This documentary looks at the history of beer starting with the Sumerians who invented it 5.000 years ago through to the leading export of today and the new trend of the future: craft beer.  Prost!

Prince Luitpold of Bavaria: if Germany were still a monarchy, this member of the House of Wittelsbach would be King of Bavaria.  What does this have to do with beer?  His Highness brews one of the best beers in Bavaria.  No wonder – it was one of his ancestors that introduced the Reinheitsgebot (German purity law) in 1516, and it remains in force to this day: the only ingredients permitted are hops, malt, and water.  500 years of pure beer – without chemicals, flavour enhancers or colour additive additives as is common in the rest of the world.  There are 5,000 different beers in Germany, produced in more than 1,300 breweries.

Great beer has always been synonymous with Germany.  Let’s find out why!

The young magician’s apprentice LIMBRADUR is far more interested in the universe and its secrets than in studying for magic school.

When he sneaks into the Albert Einstein Museum, he meets ALBY, a small, clever but rather quirky robot who knows all about Albert Einstein and his discoveries about gravity.

ALBY takes LIMBRADUR on a magical journey through time and space where they also learn about friendship and the power of imagination.

Encounter The Searcher, a visitor from another galaxy, and join him on an adventure through time and space as he searches for his lost civilization.  This science fiction adventure is based on real science and features stunning data visualizations of the formation of our Universe, the collision of two galaxies, a spectacular supernova explosion, and a supermassive black hole.  Produced by the Adler Planetarium, The Searcher was written by author and screenwriter, Nick Sagan (son of the famous astronomer Carl Sagan) and features the voice of Tony Award-winning actor, Billy Crudup.

An enchanting underwater adventure: Guppy Fish Pi is peacefully living with his friends in an exotic coral reef.  When Troy, a vicious shark sets out to destroy the reef, all animals need to work together to protect their beautiful environment.  The Reef is a funny 3D/4D attraction film for theme parks and aquariums, aimed at children and families.

This is a story that follows three famous pro-golfers during their off season training in Thailand and America.  See how vigorous the training is in preparation for the championships.  Also get some invaluable tips on how to improve your own game.  All this and more, against the beautiful backdrop of Thailand and America.

Unlike other surfing documentaries, The Physics of Surfing is a 24-minute educational film that uncovers the physical science of ocean waves and the art of surfing.  In this captivating presentation, the filmmakers explore how energy moves through water, building and combining its force, traveling thousands of miles over the course of weeks until the ocean floor underneath disrupts the wave’s formation and causes it to pitch up and collapse.  The film also investigates the science behind various surfing styles and how surfers instinctively address such notions of gravity and buoyancy while using the energy of motion to ride waves.

In 1959, a government employee named Richard Oyler, living in the tiny desert town of Lone Pine, California, asked world-famous modern architect Richard Neutra to design his modest family home.  To Oyler’s surprise, Neutra agreed.  Thus began an unlikely friendship that led to the design and construction of an iconic mid-century modern masterpiece.

Considered the father of California Modern Architecture, Time Magazine put Richard Neutra on their cover in 1949, ranking him second only to Frank Lloyd Wright among America’s greatest architects.  The Oyler House: Richard Neutra’s Desert Retreat explores how Neutra came to befriend this modest, small-town family, and how he was inspired by the site’s stunning desert setting, which Neutra compared to the grandness of the mystical Gobi Desert.

Now owned by the actress Kelly Lynch and her writer-producer husband Mitch Glazer, the post & beam-style home and its exotic surroundings shine through beautiful cinematography, and the story comes to life through interviews with Richard Oyler, Kelly Lynch, Neutra’s sons, and well-known Los Angeles real estate agent Crosby Doe, who has represented homes by some of history’s greatest modern architects.

Kakadu National Park is located in the northernmost part of Australia.  During the rainy season, when vast expanses of wetland appear and many aquatic insects and fish emerge, aquatic birds arrive to feed on them and breed.  Among them is the comb-crested Jacana.  These unique birds use their long toes to gracefully walk across lotus leaves and catch underwater prey.  Interestingly, these birds are polyandrous, meaning the females mate with more than one male.  Females therefore lay a lot of clutches and it is the males alone who care for them.  This episode, filmed between the rainy season and dry season when the park undergoes drastic changes, follows the lives of these aquatic birds.

Sperm whales are back, and learning how to steal fish off their hooks.  They are also learning how to speak a special “coda” language, and fool killer whales – their ancient enemies.  They have now started to investigate our oil rigs, telecommunication cables, and submarines.  Their large brains – the biggest in the animal kingdom – try to decipher our innovations … and turn them to their advantage.  Discover the new sperm whale.

The Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest coral reef, covers a range of over 2,000 kilometers off the northeast coast of Australia.  Magnificent spectacles of the birth of life unfold here every summer.  Male and female surgeonfish swim at lightning speed toward the water surface and spawn; tens of thousands of green sea turtles simultaneously come ashore under the star-filled sky to lay eggs; and the climax is a rare sight of some 100 varieties of coral all spawning at once within a timeframe of only 15 minutes.

Enjoy the breathtaking moments successfully caught on an unprecedented scale by taking full advantage of the amazingly rich colors of high-definition 4K cameras.

Immerse yourself in the mysterious drama of life under the spell of the moon on a summer night.

Experience the thrill of flying and soar through the history of flight, from the Wright brothers to the dramatic high-speed aerobatics of the world-renowned Blue Angels.

The Living Sea celebrates the beauty and power of the ocean as it explores our relationship with this complex and fragile environment.  Using beautiful images of unspoiled healthy waters, The Living Sea offers hope for recovery engendered by productive scientific efforts.

Oceanographers studying humpback whales, jellyfish, and deep-sea life show us that the more we understand the ocean and its inhabitants, the more we will know how to protect them.  The film also highlights the Central Pacific islands of Palau, one of the most spectacular underwater habitats in the world to show the beauty and potential of a healthy ocean.

The Living Sea is narrated by Meryl Streep and features songs and music by Sting.

After losing their way on a cold, blustery Christmas eve, two children, Katie and Makean are rescued by their friend, The Candleman, an old sage who imparts wisdom, hot chocolate and stories.

The Life of Trees lets the audience experience nature from a different perspective.  Two quirky insects, a ladybug called Dolores and a firefly called Mike, explain the complex processes that happen inside a tree in a fun and entertaining way: How do trees grow?

How do they transport water against gravity to the top of the crown?  How do green plants make life on earth possible by producing oxygen?

The Life of Trees is a perfect planetarium show for the whole family that raises the awareness of protecting the nature we live in.

Fly across iridescent tropical reefs, brush through a cloud of a million jellyfish, visit an alien world where the closer you look, the more you see.

We think of reefs as exotic, distant places with little connection to our everyday world.  Yet there are many kinds of reef, each of them a living city beneath the sea, where plants and animals congregate in mutual benefit.  They have a parallel existence to ours, distant yet undoubtedly connected.

Each of them is a hotspot of biodiversity as vital to life on earth as the rainforests.  Just as the Amazon has its secrets, so too do the reefs.  Reefs have been molding and shaping our shorelines, literally forming islands and mountains, for millions of years.  Yet in our lifetime, they have come under threat: human activity is altering the chemistry of the oceans.  As the sea becomes more acidic, coral, shell and bone begin to crumble.

Shot on location in Palau, Vancouver Island, French Polynesia, Mexico, and The Bahamas, The Last Reef takes us on a global journey to explore our connection with the ocean’s complex, parallel worlds.  New underwater 3D technology takes us into the heart of the reef, revealing a habitat more diverse and more colorful than you ever imagined …

What would it mean to us if one of these vibrant wonderlands were to become the last reef?

During the night the brewery is the stage for Kurt and Mani, two fearless gentlemen dueling for the title of the champion of the brewery race.  On their way to the finish line they encounter many “delicious” dangers and while their styles may vary they are equally determined to show what they are capable of.

The Greatest Places is a large-format film that takes you on an educational journey to seven of the most geographically dynamic locations on Earth, including Greenland, Madagascar, Namib, Okavango, Tibet, Iguazu, and the Amazon.

The story of the Settlement of the United States’ western frontier is told using the stories and words (from diaries and letters) of real life people while showing this astonishingly beautiful territory.  The film chronicles the major events that contributed to the settlement of the western frontier beginning with the Louisiana purchase and ending when in 1890 the U.S. Census Bureau declared that there was no more frontier; it had been settled.

The Amazon River is home to a wide variety of unique fish.  NHK spent over two years exploring the dense jungle to closely follow the Amazon’s stunning underwater creatures with 4K cameras.  The exploration led to an encounter with a crystal clear natural spring, and successful recordings of fascinating creatures of the Amazon.  Captured on camera are very rare footage of electric eels hunting prey, energetic images of the Amazon river dolphin attacking a school of fish in high speed 4K, and a unique sight of local fishermen catching a gigantic 2-meter shark-like catfish.

Come and unveil the drama of the legendary fish in the most magnificent river.

The Amazon rainforest is a luscious jungle wonderland, a treasure trove of many unidentified animals.  The jungle is long on anecdotes about various legendary creatures, in particular the primate “Mono Grande.”  A photo taken in the early 20th century of this gigantic ape amazed the world as a possible new simian, and sightings remain rife today.

“Does the Mono Grande really exist?”

Driven by the desire to find out, an NHK crew thrusts deep into the jungle, encountering exotic monkeys on the way.

After over 100 days of desperate exploration, the crew finally meets up with a enormous monkey!  But is it the legendary Mono Grande they are after … ?