TV / ANCILLARY

Film
Release Year
Runtime(s)
Synopsis
The Bachelor King
2011
75, 56, 50

Stunning 3D cinematography takes us into an extraordinary, sub-Antarctic island, home to majestic albatrosses, brawling fur seals and six million penguins. It’s a world away from human existence; but yet our hero’s struggle is familiar to us all, young and old alike.

After three years out on the open ocean, our bachelor returns to the place where he was born and raised: Penguin City.  On this densely-packed island, he looks to establish himself and find a mate. What follows is the most challenging time of his life.  He must grow up fast to survive and raise chicks of his own.

Once he meets the penguin of his dreams, the two of them embark upon raising a family.  Having witnessed his chick hatch, the parents work together to feed it, teach it, keep it warm against the harsh sub-Antarctic weather and protect it through its first danger-filled year.  But with predators in the sky, the land, and the water, tragedy could lie around every corner.  In the face of all these challenges, our king must persevere.

The Bachelor King‘s story is often comic, sometimes tragic, and ultimately triumphant; a rite of passage set within one of the earth’s last great wildernesses.

The Best of California
2002
30 x 39 mn, 117 x 4-7 min

Travel vicariously to and throughout California in this friendly reality show featuring Romantic Getaways, Family Fun, and Sports & Adventure.

Thirty-nine (39) 30-minute episodes, or one hundred seventeen (117) 4-7 minute segments available.  Six (6) 30-minute Spanish episodes, or eighteen (18) 4-7 segments also available.

The Buttefly, The Harp and the Timepiece
2015
10

A story about a magic shop where no matter who you are you can get what you need.  Starring Academy Award Winner Melissa Leo, and Golden Globe Winner Alex Ebert.  Featuring original song “Butterfly” performed by Toby Rand and composed by 2013 Best Pop Album Grammy Winner, Alex Geringas.

The Caiman Hunters: Jaguar, Brazilian Wetlands
2016
52

The carnivorous and ever wary jaguar is usually hidden deep in the forest, never revealing its true nature.  However, during recent dry seasons, they have been spotted in the Pantanal wetland in Brazil.  Using unmanned cameras and ultra-sensitive cameras, our film crew embarked on a major project to record these jaguars.  Witness an amazing Jaguar hunt that climaxes in a single deadly bite.

The Citadel
2015
55

Matt Helliker and Jon Bracey aim to make the first ascent of the extraordinary 1200m long north-west ridge.

The stage is set for two mountaineers, who despite their many accomplishments, must still seek out new lines in unchartered territory.  The odds are stacked heavily against them.  It’s a hard and difficult climb to the top.  They test their endurance, will, and commitment to the climb.  Why?  So that they can experience the freedom of standing alone on a peak with no one else around for miles; the chance to chart their legacy as explorers and adventure seekers and make their own paths in life.

The Citadel is a stunning 3,000m peak in one of the remaining untouched corners of the Great Alaskan Range.  With the mantra “EatClimbRepeat,” the mountaineers need a minimum of 3 weeks to make it to the top.  Will they make it?  In the documentary we take a front seat ride on a trip through the unknown and are with Matt and Jon every step of the way through all the hardships and struggles, hopes, and disappointments.  What unfolds is a classic narrative arc where success is snatched from the jaws of defeat.

The Disaster Diaries
2015
3 x 75 min

While we can’t look into the future and foresee what may hit us next, we do know that each year brings its share of natural disasters that we often try, in vain, to anticipate, understand, and predict.  This is a new kind of natural disaster programme: instead of relying on poor quality archive footage, our crews are on standby ready to take off anywhere around the planet to film these disasters in Ultra-High Definition.  They will use state-of-the-art film technology, such as gyro-stabilized mounts attached to helicopters, drones, or ships, collapsible dolly carts and even rotating portholes that evacuate sea spray by centrifugal force to bring the highest quality images to your screen.

The Discoverers
1993
40

From the earliest voyages that mapped the Earth to today’s launches into space, The Discoverers reverberates with the passion to explore our universe.  Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Dr. Daniel J. Boorstin, The Discoverers examines our desire to expand the boundaries of knowledge.  The stories presented in this film span space and time, taking us around the world to participate in the act of discovery.  Stand alongside Sir Isaac Newton in his British lab; then travel to the present to observe Dr. Louis Herman working with his very cerebral dolphins in Hawaii.

The Dying King
2016
76, 53

In the open wilderness of Africa, there are only 20.000 lions living a free life.  Humans have killed hundreds of thousands in the last decades – mostly for purely hunting purposes.  In the last couple of years, a new industry has developed called the canned hunting.  After 4-5 years of breeding, young lions are shot in special areas, after which tourists pay up to 40.000 USD for the corpse of the dead male lion.

A real industry developed in South Africa – lion cubs are used in petting zoos, bones of the animals are exported to Asia for so-called medical “purposes.”

Figures of more than 10.000 lions in captivity being targets for future canned hunting are supposed to be real these days.

We want to open public eyes on these industries using big cat lives for money making.  With investigative means, hidden cameras, we will try to get in touch with the people behind these intrigues.

First and foremost we want to stress the work of FOUR PAWS to save and protect big cats worldwide.  As part of FOUR PAWS’ work for wild animals in captivity, the organization focuses on the situation of big cats in zoos, in private captivity, and in the entertainment industry.

First successful action took place in 2002, when four lion cubs used for taking photos with tourists were sent from Romania to a sanctuary in South Africa.  Ever since then, FOUR PRAWS has increasingly stepped in more on this issue and has undertaken research in several countries in order to collect information about the conditions and numbers of big cats in captivity.  In November 2007, the first transfer or “rescue action” with two lions from Romania, and ten lions from Austria took place.

In the meantime the Big Cat Sanctuary LIONSROCK in South Africa is now home to more than 90 big cats.  Furthermore, FOUR PAWS concentrate on collecting more information on big cats around the world and will increase its network with other big cat sanctuaries and big cat experts.

The Eruption of Mount St. Helens
1980
28

Marvel at the awesome power of nature as The Eruption of Mount St. Helens displays the change evoked by a massive volcanic eruption and the renewal process which follows it.  In this Academy Award nominated film, beautiful photography of the mountain prior to May 18th, 1980, is harshly contrasted with the apocalyptic post-eruption scenery created when the entire side of Mount St. Helens was blown away in billowing clouds of ash.  Soar over and through the unearthly landscape of mud, ash and steaming craters in a ride that shows just what it is like to have an exploding volcano in your backyard.

The Extreme Nature of Bats
2010
24

The Extreme Nature of Bats is a 3D science film that explores not only the truths but the myths and dark legends that have been associated with bats for hundreds of years. Through the (sometimes frightening) wonders of digital 3D technology, audiences will learn that bats are unique and interesting animals; but, because of fear and misconceptions throughout history, they are also one of the most misunderstood animals in the world. There are close to 1,000 species of bats worldwide and they comprise more than one-fifth of all the mammals in the world. The film examines how bats are unique in the animal kingdom because they are the only mammals to have evolved true flight.

The First Emperor of China
1989
42

The film tells the story of Ying Zheng, ruler of Qin, who conquered neighboring states and declared himself “Qin Shihuang,” First Emperor of China.  Qin’s battles, achievements, and tyranny are recounted with a cast of thousands in epic style, with historically accurate costumes and meticulous attention to detail.

The Genet
2014
36

This is remarkable story about a young genet who after losing its mother’s track decides to embark on a lonely journey to look for her.  The forest gives it shelter, food, but it is also filled with traps of nature, threatening dangers, and enemies that turn into allies.

The Great Amazon: Monkey Enigma
2016
49

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 … ?

The Great Amazon: Secrets of the Mighty River
2016
49

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 Great American West
1995
41

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 Greatest Places
1998
40

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 Last Reef
2012
42, 24, 12

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?

The Last Wild
93, 55

A spectacular journey in Ultra HD cinema through the most remote and fascinating nature parks in Namibia, Africa, underlines the need to restore human contact with wildlife.  Elephants, lions, leopards, giraffes, buffaloes, hippos and many other wild animals share the same biological and spiritual bond with nature as the human race, but growing pressure from the predatory behaviour of man and the spread of civilisation across the Planet is threatening their survival.

The Last Wild is a cry for the need to restore contact with and respect for nature and all the living things that inhabit it in order to build a new more positive and sustainable world.

The Last Wild film offers to the audience a touching cinematic experience discovering one of the remotest wild regions of Africa and promoting the need to preserve a more respectful relationship between humans and nature.

The film travels to the Western Kalahari region, in Namibia, inquiring about the spirit of the wild and the deep sense of the human condition as part of the nature cycle.

The Last Wild, a very high quality film shot in 4K resolution from the ground and from the air, joins spectacular pure wildlife images with a deep conservationist message and a very moving soundtrack.

Filmed in the remote Khaudum National Park and its surrounding area, and in the Kavango-Zambeze region that borders with Angola, Zambia and Botswana, capturing spectacular landscapes, meeting bushman tribes and finding herds of elephants and buffaloes, big cats, rhinos, hippos, crocodiles, and many more wild animals.

The Last Wild spread out a very powerful conservationist message to the next generations, contained in a symphony of cinematic sensations, taking the audience to contemplate the ordinary rhythm of nature and wildlife without interferences, connecting with it, as it was part of it.

Enjoying The Last Wild film, the worldwide audience will experience an extraordinary adventure that connects human spirit with the spirit of wildlife.

The Light Before Christmas
2008
32

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 Living Sea
1995
39

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.

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