4K UHD

The BMW i8, a hybrid sports car with gull-wing doors and a carbon fibre body, gives us a glimpse into the future of the world’s biggest premium car manufacturer.

The Bavarian Motor Works started out in 1916 as a small producer of aircraft engines. Yes, its origins lie in the air.  The asset that BMW is best-known for today is actually the last product to be added to its portfolio.  It was only in the 30s that BMW built its first car.  Since then, the company’s 100-year history has seen technological innovations, racing victories and also severe crises. 

The documentary shows exclusive films and documents from the founding years through to the present day – including the story of the Elvis Presley BMW, which has never been shown before.  Historians, contemporary witnesses, race drivers and fans talk about the background and the fascination that have made BMW a global player.

March 11 2011, 2:46 pm.  One of the largest earthquakes in Japanese history hits the East of Japan.  A gigantic tsunami caused by this earthquake later triggered a complete power outage at the nuclear power station in Fukushima, which led to three simultaneous meltdowns.  Eighty-eight hours later, on March 15, 7 am, a large amount of radioactive material was released from reactor No.2, resulting in a Level 7 nuclear accident, the highest class.  Five years have passed since the accident, and details of the situation at that time have now emerged through various investigations and exclusive interviews with more than 500 people who were involved.  What actually happened at ground zero?  Through re-enactments and interviews, viewers will witness for the first time the complete picture of the nuclear accident in Fukushima during those fateful first 88 hours.

The world of paleontology is currently experiencing a golden age: more fossil species have been unearthed in the past decade than in the last two hundred years when this science first emerged.  Thanks to new technologies combining genetics, ethology, geology, and even particle physics, paleontologists can now recreate some of the missing branches from the tree of life.  Assumptions have been shattered and all the rules are changing.

Now, paleontologists can finally answer three vital questions:

– Where do insects come from?
– Where do birds come from?
– Where do mammals come from?

This series, based on ultra-realistic 3D computer graphics, and supported by the world’s leading international scientists will bring these forgotten creatures to the screen and explore the ideological controversies or frauds that accompany their discovery.

During summer, the Atlantic coast between northeastern United States and southeastern Canada attracts large sea creatures such as whales, sharks that feed on the dense aggregations of plankton.  To help reveal the secrets of these creatures’ underwater hunting and behavior, the documentary film crew attached special cameras to 13-meter-long basking sharks and to leatherback sea turtles, which as the world’s largest reptile can grow to weigh over one ton.  This episode takes a look at the shadowy lives of these giant creatures as the North American waters change from spring to summer.

Australia’s Christmas Island is an isolated tropical island in the open waters of the Indian Ocean.  In this isolated rainforest-covered island, red crabs have multiplied in great numbers.  At the beginning of the rainy season, 50 million of these crabs march from the forest to the beach.  This procession resembles a red carpet moving through the island.  The purpose of this mass exodus is breeding.  Arriving after a long arduous journey, the beach is covered as far as one can see by females with eggs.  Meanwhile, in the ocean the world’s largest fish, a whale shark, lurks hoping to feed on the newly hatched baby crabs!

This episode shows the amazing drama of survival of these crimson-colored crabs.

A journey into the multidimensional world of risk from the soaring and breathtaking cliffs of Norway to the calm and inspiring immensity of the Mojave Desert.  Starring world champion skydiver Adrian Nicholas.

The large-scale documentary series Aerial China showcases China’s history, culture, geology, and economic and social growth from a bird’s-eye view.  Covering 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 4 municipalities, and 2 special administrative regions, a total of 34 episodes will be shot over five years entirely from the air.  Aerial China (Season I) includes Heilongjiang, Xinjiang, Shaanxi, Shanghai, Jiangxi, and Hainan.

Each episode selects the most representative features of the region to display China’s historical, cultural, societal, and natural landscapes.  As the striking visual story unfolds, the audience follows the flight route of the camera to uncover a vision of China that is at once fresh and familiar; a rich, beautiful, living and breathing China.

Africa: The Serengeti introduces the audience to a spectacle that few humans have ever witnessed, the Great Migration, taking viewers on a journey with over 1.5 million animals as they travel more than 500 miles across the Serengeti plains in Tanzania and Kenya.  This film is a tribute to the wildebeest as they set out on their yearlong odyssey; it is also a documentary featuring a fascinating array of animals including zebras, giraffes, elephants, monkeys, baboons, and even hyenas, jackals, and vultures, with an abundance of animal trivia.

Africa seen and described through the eyes of a wildlife photographer who has always been fascinated by the unique atmosphere of this extraordinary continent.  A tale of the sensation of breathing the air of Africa, admiring its fiery skies and observing the daily activities of its animals, frequently caught in unusual poses.  A story that shuns the spectacle of animals suffering and dying in favour of striking colours and the light, smells, and landscapes unique to this continent.  A story that describes the cause of his longing for Africa, the sweetest sadness.

Fly into Nevada’s “Valley of Speed” for a breathtaking exploration of the fastest race in the world combined with spectacular air show entertainment: the legendary Reno National Championship Air Races.  Join today’s elite pilots as they fight for position, wingtip-to-wingtip, and skim 50 feet (15 m) above the ground around an oval course at twice the speed of a Nascar race.  Discover this ultra-competitive world through the eyes of rookie pilot Steve Hinton as he attempts to fly his P-51 Mustang fighter plane to victory in the most highly-anticipated and unpredictable race class.  Learn about the history and science behind the sport, whose concept dates back to the dawn of aviation, and see top-notch aerobatic performers, including the Canadian Forces Snowbirds.  With spectacular aerial photography filmed entirely in 3D and unprecedented access granted to the course, Air Racers 3D, narrated by Paul Walker of “The Fast and the Furious” series, puts you in the cockpit to experience the intensity and high-speed thrills of a sports event like no other for the very first time in IMAX 3D theatres. 

The mission to protect and defend the world’s oceans has become far more complex and challenging in recent years, and naval aviation has become increasingly vital to success.  One of the greatest engineering feats in naval maritime history, the modern Nimitz-class carrier is a masterpiece of technology, and the flagship of the fleet.  With RIMPAC, the world’s largest and most comprehensive international maritime training exercise providing a stunning visual context for the story, find yourself aboard the USS Ronald Reagan alongside the 5,000 highly skilled sea and air personnel conducting flight operations in the midst of the simulated war exercises taking place there.  Rarely has there been a topic so visually suited and compelling for IMAX® and other giant screen theaters.

Alaska: Spirit of the Wild is the ultimate story of survival, where life triumphs season after season against fierce conditions and challenges.

“It is a place little contaminated by the present, where we can rediscover a vitality and beauty vanishing from our lives.  Whether or not we will ever reach Alaska, we all want to know such a place still exists.”  This is narrator Charlton Heston’s poignant summation of the film Alaska: Spirit of the Wild.

Transporting viewers on a voyage into the last great frontier where nature enchants the eye with magnificent spectacles, this film takes audiences fishing with brown bears, soaring with bald eagles, dodging calving glaciers, and racing on the hooves of caribou — all from the comfort of their theater seats.  Director George Casey masterfully relates the genesis of Alaska and then explores its rich history, surprising wildlife, magnificent landscapes, harsh climate, and abiding spirit.

Dancers Garen Scribner, Lonnie Weeks, Sean Bennett, Madison Keesler, Alex Jenkins, and Jordan Drew dance a modern ballet above the Golden Gate Bridge.  The piece was inspired by the America’s Cup sailboat races which was hosted in San Francisco in 2013, and a desire to express the beauty and grace of the fastest sailboats on Earth through dance.

Witness some of nature’s most incredible spectacles as millions of creatures embark on Amazing Journeys of survival.  Film director George Casey introduces audiences to six of nature’s truly unique phenomena.  From the distant reaches of a hidden Mexican village to the sunny, warm surf off the Baja coast, fly on the delicate wings of a butterfly and dive into the depths of the oceans with a colossal whale to experience awe-inspiring life and death migrations.  Along with the immense distances they travel, these species face many obstacles—obstacles that may change their migratory patterns forever.  Go along on a most unbelievable road trip as nature struggles to the very ends of the earth.

The South Island of New Zealand, known as a penguin paradise, is home to the largest number of penguin species.  In fact, the island is believed to be where the very first penguins appeared.  Little penguins, which at night slightly lean forward when walking back and forth between their nest and the sea, share features associated with early penguins, and forest-dwelling Fiordland crested penguins are believed to have gradually learned to breed in caves to avoid predators.  This episode takes a look at the penguins’ lives and reveals the secrets of how the island turned from being their birthplace to becoming their paradise.

Surviving for almost 1000 years Angkor Wat, “the City of Temples,” is steeped in mystery and myth, which was lost to the world for centuries, and rediscovered in 1860 by French explorers.  From the stone temples at Angkor, covered with 1850 baroque sculptures of the dancing, flying singing angels called Apsaras to the cobra like images bearing 11 heads of Naga, this recreation of Mount Meru or heaven for Buddhist and Hindu’s is a true Wonder of the World.  Our team will take their 4K UHD cameras to chronicle and explore this vast exquisite ruins.  Join us as we venture through the jungles of Cambodia to bring face to face with the cryptic mysteries of the temples of Angkor Wat.

The 3-part series features both, charismatic animals such as puma or condor, and unique behavior of the rarest animals of the continent.  You will experience how the most demanding environments, from mystical forests down to majestic valleys formed the wildlife inhabiting this dynamic mountain chain. 

The Andes is not just the longest chain of mountains on the planet, it is the most dynamic.  Its relatively recent and sudden rise has been like a giant geological shock.  Nature has had to respond, and as this spectacular mountain kingdom continues to rise, it pushes animals to ever-extraordinary limits: Monkeys snuggled in thick woolly coats against the lofty cold; scimitar-billed hummingbirds specialized to court and survive in remote, knife-sharp valleys; tiny cousins of the camel that sprint across arid grassland; and the ultimate glider through rarefied air – the Andean condor. 

This three part exploration of the earth’s youngest, most exciting mountain range is a journey up humid, mystical, forested slopes, across lonely, high-altitude pastures studded with snow-capped volcanos, and down majestic glacial valleys.  Each film will portrait – in fresh and intimate detail – the lives of charismatic residents such as puma and spectacled bear, but will also reveal little-known behaviour of colourful and unique Andean animals that have adapted in surprising ways to their mountain kingdom’s urgent demands.  Even more remarkable, this is a chance to showcase some of the rarest animals on the continent, such as the recently-discovered olinguito.

From the tropical northern Andes to the chain’s frigid southern tail, this will be an emotional, exhilarating, cinematic revelation!

A civilization that rose to become the envy of the world, only to disappear … a mystery waiting to be unlocked by modern archaeologists, scientists and explorers.

Following an epic spree of religious building whose scale and ambition rivals the pyramids of Egypt, Angkor is the scene of one of the greatest vanishing acts of all time.  The Khmer kingdom lasted from the 9th to the 15th centuries and at its height dominated a large swathe of South-East Asia from Myanmar to the west to Vietnam in the East.  As many as one million people lived in Angkor, the capital, which sprawled across an area the size of New York’s five boroughs, making it the most extensive urban complex of the pre-industrial world.  By the late 16th Century, the once resplendent capital of the empire, with its thousands of elaborate temples and religious monuments, was being overrun by the surrounding jungles.

Many experts have attempted to provide answers, and theories abound.  1300 carved inscriptions survive on temple doorjambs but the Khmer people of Angkor left not a single word explaining their kingdom’s collapse. This will be a visually stunning film … an epic adventure where science, mystery and ancient civilization intersect.

Animal Kingdom is a spectacular adventure where we meet the six fascinating families of the Animal Kingdom.

A fun and educational film that introduces junior and family audiences to the creatures that keep the planet ticking just as it should.

Take flight with the family of the birds who rule the skies. Get busy with the insects who work hard behind the scenes. Dive into oceans and coral reefs as we meet the family of the fish. Open your eyes to cold blooded world of the reptiles and amphibians. And get moving with the mammals as we meet the mightiest families in the Animal Kingdom.

Singing lions, bears that waltz, sea lions turning somersaults.  Otters pray, flamingos squawk, a calf who’d rather dance than walk.  Children will want to watch it again and again.  Animalopolis — a giant-screen matinee film for a truly brand new audience.  You’ll like it, too.

With twelve hilarious segments, each featuring a different animal, Animalopolis will stimulate children’s imaginations and curiosity about the creatures they’re seeing.