One of the most mysterious animals to inhabit the jungle is the pygmy hippopotamus - up to 300 kg in weight, just 2 meters long, and 80 cm tall, and a true loner. Since its discovery in 1844, generations of researchers have attempted to study it in the wild - but in vain. Although it proved possible to catch a few specimens for zoos, no one ever got to see them before they were already inside the trap. They eluded the gaze of the researchers like phantoms under the protection of the enchanted forest. These are the first ever pictures of pygmy hippopotami in their natural surroundings - the rain forest of West Africa. Set amid stories about their habitat, the film allows a first impression of this timid creature's life. While their ten-times heavier relatives are loud and gregarious and live in open stretches of water, the pygmy hippopotamus moves furtively through the thick undergrowth.
City of Wax (1934)
City of Wax is a 1934 American short documentary film produced by Horace and Stacy Woodard about the life of a bee. It won the Oscar at the 7th Academy Awards in 1935 for Best Short Subject (Novelty). Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with the UCLA Film and Television Archive in 2007.
Galapagos: Beyond Darwin (1996)
Galapagos: Beyond Darwin is a 1996 documentary narrated by actor Roscoe Lee Browne. It premiered on the Discovery Channel on Sunday, August 18, 1996.[1] It was directed by Al Giddings.
Smart as a Fox (1946)
Smart as a Fox is a 1946 short documentary film supervised by Gordon Hollingshead. In this short film, a fox cub experiences life in the forest. It was nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short, One-Reel.
Summer in the Meadow (2018)
Wildlife cameraman Stephen de Vere films and narrates this personal and intimate portrait of some of the fields and meadows near his home. From elusive deer, to a bee that nests in an empty shell, there are creatures to discover as fascinating as any found in a tropical forest.
Dino Bird (2017)
Dino Bird is a visually spectacular one-hour film that explores the life of the endangered southern cassowary through the eyes of matriarch Bertha, as she and her family strive to survive in the tropics of northern Queensland in the oldest rainforest on Earth. Over the course of one tumultuous season, Bertha, her partner and her chicks battle fearsome predators and formidable rains, but also play an invaluable role in sustaining life in this ecological hotspot. Dino Bird is an intimate and rarely seen portrait of one of Australia's last remaining southern cassowaries.
Hidden Beauty - The Orchids of the Saale Valley (2017)
Orchids are counted among the rarest and most endangered, but also the most beautiful species of plant in Germany. In this movie David Cebulla is in search of these unique plants around his hometown Jena, a university town situated in central Germany. He wants to capture impressive footage in order to make a statement for the protection and preservation of nature.
On Closer Inspection (1953)
"Without leaving his own garden, a man may know the world" - an abstract study of the wildlife found in every garden.
An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
A documentary on Al Gore's campaign to make the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide.
The Lost Forest (2020)
How would natural habitats develop without human interference? In this documentary we follow an international team of scientists and explorers on an extraordinary mission in Mozambique to reach a forest that no human has set foot in. The team aims to collect data from the forest to help our understanding of how climate change is affecting our planet. But the forest sits atop a mountain, and to reach it, the team must first climb a sheer 100m wall of rock.
Kangaroo Valley (2022)
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.
Decade of Discovery (2010)
Chris Packham presents, mentioning others that didn't quite make the list, his favorite top ten animal - and plant species from the half million discovered in the first decade of the 21st century. The animals include the most endangered African monkey, a lemur (Madagascar simian), a mouse-size and -resembling relative of the elephant, a Caribean island-adapted sloth, a shark which 'walks coral reefs on an arm', the largest mega-stick, a deep sea jellyfish without tentacles and a jungle gecko mutation happening in Malaysian state Perlis in order to flee serpent predation into caves. Plant species include a giant Venus-flytrap on Palawan (Philipines) and the largest ever orchid from Peru.
Wild Side of Cats (2012)
Cat experts explain the behaviors of domestic cats and how their sometimes undesirable actions are really innate instincts, revealing how closely they are still connected to their wild ancestors.
Giants with mud feet (2011)
German nature film from 2011. Mention the "Elm Fight" in Sweden and most people there think of when protesters and police fought in Kungsträdgården in 1972. But only for a few years previously, a stealthy enemy had reached Sweden, which today threatens the elms far more than any city planner.
Det var en gång en skog... (2005)
On January 8, 2005, the storm Gudrun pulled over southern Sweden and large parts of the Småland forest blew down. How do you cope when your food disappears overnight? Anders and Lisbeth Ericsson, who run a smaller farm, were hit hard by the storm. 70% of their 250 ha were blown down. This put them in a difficult economic and emotional crisis. They realize that it is important to find new solutions in order to live on now that the conditions have changed so completely. Johan Forsman and his father Jan have a large farm with 1500 ha of forest. For them, it is not just a financial loss, the extensive work to take care of the broken forest feels endless. It is difficult to get enough people to work. Some of the assistance is taken from other parts of the world, including Finnish forest workers. The problem is that the Finns only speak Finnish, and a little Russian…
Into the Abyss: Chemosynthetic Oases (2022)
Exploring hydrothermal vents, cold-seep habitats, and food-falls including whale-falls and the communities at shipwrecks
High Life at Low Temperatures (2017)
The summits and sheer mountain ridges of Austria’s "Little Siberia" funnel the freezing air from snow-covered peaks into a gigantic hollow – a high-level plateau at 1,000 metres from which it cannot escape: Lungau is Austria’s coldest region. Creeks and streams start higher here, and create bogs, moors and countless alpine lakes. Summer is short but lively, as eagles rear their precious young and ermines eat their fill before the sparse winter returns, while black alpine salamanders give birth to live miniature versions of themselves beneath the tree-line.
The Mirror (2009)
Documentary on the village of Viganella, in the Piedmont Alps, and on its mirror that reflects the sunlight on the hamlet, which otherwise would not reach the valley.
Animal Doctors (2014)
Only twenty-five years ago, the first evidence of self-medicating behaviour among animals was reported among chimpanzees. On the basis of this pioneering research, led by the American Michael Huffman, a new science was founded: "zoopharmacognosy", or the study of animal pharmacopeia. Animals are apparently able to treat themselves actively, to detect natural substances that can provide a remedy for health problems, or to prevent them. The primatologist Michael Huffman explains how he discovered that chimpanzees can heal their diseases with medicinal plants from their environment. The scientist then comments on other very surprising examples: Birds that disinfect their nests by filling them with aromatic plants with repellent properties, a rodent that covers its coat with toxic sap as a poisonous defence against predators and elephants that place mud plasters on their injuries. Some therapeutic behaviours may even be transmitted socially among certain species.