Butterflies surely are the most fancied species inside the insect world. Their beautiful colouring and their graceful flight appeal to everyone. There are close to 4000 types of Butterflies – today many of them are endangered due to the loss of their habitat.
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The Andes are the biggest mountain range in the world. Peaks of up to 7000 metres in height, do not only offer an imposing view, but also influence the climate by being the drainage and meteorological divide.
Sri Lanka stands for colourful diversity in all respects. If it's spirituality or Ayurveda you're looking for, here it is. Adventurers and nature lovers can also satisfy their needs here. No one must travel far to discover exotic worlds on this drop-shaped tropical island. "mareTV" delves into the day to day lives of the is-landers, some of whom pursue the most unusual pro-fessions: Uditha Lakmaal is a palm tree climber. He harvests the sap of the trees, known as palm wine, by climbing to the top of them. Sri Lankan stilt fishermen now actually have very little to do with fish and func-tion more as models receiving payment from tourists for acting the part. Anulawathie runs a small floating hoop business, offering car inner tubes for adults and tuk-tuk tubes for children. Different varieties of tea can be found on Herman Gunaratnes tea plantation. Just four carefully selected women are allowed to harvest the exclusive white tea grown there. Each tea leaf is cut individually from the bush by gloved hands and with golden scissors.
Sweden's Höga Kusten (High Coast) has been rising by almost one centimetre per year since the last ice age 10,000 years ago. This has created a hilly Baltic Sea landscape on the Gulf of Bothnia with small and large islands. Untouched nature, dense forests and energetic, rather idiosyncratic islanders have plenty of room there. Every year at the end of August a biting stench mixes with the fresh Baltic Sea breeze. For weeks the so-called sour herring, Swedish: Surströmming, is fermented in brine. Ruben Madsen is a producer of surströmming and an absolute connoisseur. In his wooden hut on the island of Ulvön he puts the herring in according to a traditional recipe. At the start of the season, the cans are opened for the first time. Lovers of the "stinky fish" then come from all over the world to taste the now world-famous delicacy in cans. Opening the cans of "rotten fish" is considered internationally as a test of courage, people film themselves doing so, the inhabitants of the High Coast can only smile about it.
A scenic expedition through majestic volcanoes, seething geysers, powerful waterfalls, threatening fjords and almighty glaciers. Hardly any other country offers such a variety of spectacular forces of nature! We will give you an insight on how it can be that the people of a small, distant island with only a fraction of sunlight in some months are happier than the people in more sun-blessed countries.
The Dordogne consists of a visible and an invisible system of flowing water. Caves and basins under the earth's surface store the excess water and return it to the river when it is dry. A perfect management of a precious resource, not invented by humans, but by the complex nature itself. The result is an ever life-giving river.
The Gironde is the largest and most powerful tidal current in Europe. When the Gironde flows into the Atlantic, it is 15 kilometers wide and in the rhythm of the tides, it brings the waters from the Pyrenees and the Massif Central into the ocean. This often pushes its waters far out into the Gironde at high tide.This creates a world of its own that has shaped everything uniquely and intensely for tens of thousands of years. The water surface of the river is so large that the evaporation has created its own microclimate, which is stable and, together with the brackish waters, has influenced flora and fauna on the right and left of the bank for a long time.
We accompany the first steps of a two-year-old elephant who is just starting his release program. We also observe the story of two young elephants in their first night in the wilderness on their own. Captivating film footage allows us to truly learn how elephants behave in the wild.
Gigantic fjords and over 5,000 small islands: In Alaska's south there's a lot of wilderness and little civilization. The region between the capital Juneau and the Canadian border is also known by locals as the "Last Frontier", the last outpost. Michelle Masden, for example, has come to terms with the harsh conditions here. She is the only seaplane pilot in the region. She earns her living with her 65-year-old Beaver: as an air taxi, transport plane and now and then as a rescuer in last necessity. Michelle flies anything and everything: spare parts and food, doctors, hikers and hunters. For the fishermen of southern Alaska she searches for large shoals of fish and guides the captains to the next good catch. Ray Rusaw was a car mechanic by profession, but in his old age he was gripped by gold fever. With a self-built special raft and a highly creative selection of equipment from the DIY store, he sets off in search of the precious metal that his predecessors overlooked two centuries ago. For four years he has been happily obsessively combing through sandbanks and river courses. For Ray, the search for gold has little to do with luck and much to do with meticulous research. He is certain that he has found the perfect spot.
They run through deserts, through ice and snow, deep into the jungle, along the water and over the mountains. The landscapes through which these routes wind are unique and exert their never-ending fascination even on regular travellers. In our documentary “Hot Roads – An Icebound Road” which is part of the five-part film series “Hot Roads” we want to tell the stories that take place along the route itself, of the people who live along it and for whom the road is part and parcel of their personal destiny.
The air wants to flee the heat, but is too weak. It hovers just above the ground, heavy and weighed down by the oven-like heat. It turns wanly around itself, and tries to cool off by liquefying itself. It vibrates, it oscillates – but there is no escape. This is West Africa in late March. The Harmattan, the hot desert wind of the Sahara, is blowing without respite. It has no pity with the people who live here. Whoever wants to go from one place to another has to travel on roads that hardly deserve this name. They are dusty paths that don't appear on any map. They are maneuverable only with great effort and for a few months of the year. They are impassable during the rainy season, since they are washed over by the Niger River, one of the mightiest rivers in the world. When it starts to rain, the roads turn into muddy paths. Every journey is a trip into uncertainty.
The “Adriatic Highway” is one of the most beautiful coastal roads in the world. The “technical masterwork” was built in the 1950s and 60s, at the time of Yugoslavian President Tito. Abounding in curves, the asphalt road stretches from Ankaran in Slovenia to Ulcinj in Montenegro. More than half of the road is in Croatia (659 km) and a quarter in Montenegro (125 km). Shorter segments lead through Slovenia only nine kilometers are in Bosnia and Herzegovina. For all four countries of the former Yugoslavian Federation, the 1,200-kilometer-long highway remains the main thoroughfare of Adriatic tourism. For many travelers, the highway is the absolute dream road. In dizzying heights, it hugs the steep cliffs lining the Adriatic Sea, winds through coves and bays, gardens and stony fields. Wonderful views of the blue sea, green islands, bizarre cliffs and Mediterranean cities and towns are typical of the highway. But with its numerous curves, the dream road also harbors many dangers.
In Bangladesh, the land with the highest density of population in the world (and the highest amount of corruption), the daily struggle to survive is fought everywhere, including the streets. Nowhere do people drive as brutally and recklessly as here. In Bangladesh you drive on the road like others drive with a bumper car: if you need space, you simply ram the car driving next to you. The police only came if there are fatalities. The biggest bottleneck in the transport system is the historical old town of Dhaka. Old Dhaka is a universe of its own, a world of bazaars in which every trade has its own quarter: there are streets of jewelers, sweets makers and fashionable tailors, and the vegetable wholesalers have their warehouses down at the port. The deliveries take place mostly on the river, the Buriganga River, a stinking cesspool. But the sold goods usually leave by land, and the customers also come by the land route – the Nawabpur Road. They generally come in buses or by rickshaw, where too many people are crammed into too little space. The traffic in Dhaka is everyday, normal madness. The film accompanies a rickshaw, a bus and a truck on their dangerous way through the streets of Dhaka and shows how it is possible to survive in what seems to be an incontrollable chaos.
It is a road of mountain passes and India's access to the roof of the world – the Himalayas. This 475-kilometre long route at the northernmost tip of the Indian subcontinent connects the cities of Manali and Leh at the heart of the Ladakh region. The term “highway” applies quite literally, since the route traverses five of the highest drivable mountain passes in the world – among these the Lohtang La at 3,978 metres above sea level, the Lachulung La at 5,059 metres and the Tanglang La at 5,325 metres. Crossing these passes is a challenge for both vehicle and man. The mountain peaks, still snow-capped even in the depths of summer, wide variety of vegetation and the fantastic and craggy landscape turn any journey into a captivating adventure.
Most people associate honey producing insects with the name “BEE“. Few realize that there are over 560 different species of bees - most of them live their lives “busy as a bee“ but some “abuse“ other insects and others are even known to be murderers. The film “Wild Bees” shows the incredible diversity and the stunning adaptations of our “BEES” to various habitats and diverse living conditions. Fascinating fights, sensational performances, imposing structures and colorful individuals – the world of “Wild Bees” offers all of this and more.
Butterflies surely are the most fancied species inside the insect world. Their beautiful colouring and their graceful flight appeal to everyone. There are close to 4000 types of Butterflies – today many of them are endangered due to the loss of their habitat.
Not nearly as crowded as Majorca or Ibiza: Menorca has noticeably fewer visitors than her sister islands and in 1993, was recognised by UNESCO as a biosphere re-serve. Menorca also has its own distinctive charm, with its secluded coves, mighty cliffs, beautiful gardens and ages old towns and villages. Its residents love the is-lands treasures and peculiarities. Forests make up al-most a third of Menorca, complemented by many lush green meadows. Next to tourism, agriculture is a major source of the island's income to the present day. On Menorca, there are several accumulations of enormous megalithic stones. From a global point of view, the up to five-metre-tall "Taulas", whereby the stones are ar-ranged in the shape of a "T", are unique.
"Cleaning woman island", concrete castles, Ballermann: Mallorca's image is negatively affected in some respects. The documentary explores the charm of the largest Balearic island beyond the hustle and bustle of tourism and Rambazamba. The "real" Mallorca is best explored through real Majorcans: Manolo Barahona, TV fishing expert from the local island broadcaster IB3, faces the most difficult task of the year. The Raor is in season, the most expensive fish on the island. Manolo is supposed to get him first in front of the camera and then in the pan. There's only one catch, the little fish with the piranha teeth just doesn't want to be on TV. In the first months of the year Mallorca turns into a sea of almond blossoms. There are around seven million almond trees on the island, once planted to replace dead vines. But now also the almond trees are threatened. The fire bacterium continues to spread, especially on the large plantations. The farmer Biel Torrens wants to save Mallorca's almond trees and fruit with a small organic plantation and gentle harvesting methods. He shakes the almonds from the tree by hand instead of using a mechanical vibrator.
The Antarctic region is undoubtedly one of the most remote and inhospitable, yet one of the most beautiful landscapes of the world. This documentary takes us on a journey to the stormy isolated islands of the Southern Ocean. Seals, penguins, seabirds and numerous other animals live and breed in this hostile environment and harsh climate. Only by an icebreaker can we reach the remote coasts of the Antarctic continent where Emperor Penguins defy the life-threatening environment of the vast ice desert at the end of the world.
The Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic, located in the middle of the Gulf Stream between Scotland and Iceland, are an archipelago of eighteen green volcanic islands where a unique culture has developed over the last thousand years. As direct descendants of the Vikings, the Faroese feel committed to their traditions and hold on to customs, without missing out on the advantages of the modern and globalised world - from archaic hunter and shepherd culture to contemporary art. With the highest birth rate in Europe and the lowest social inequality in the world, the just fifty thousand Faroese are a very special people living on one of the last natural paradises in Europe.
In accordance with the seasons and with deep respect of nature, people all over the world celebrate their long-standing traditions. Near the outermost border of Europe, in Bashkiria, generations of bee keepers have collected honey from rare wild bees, the Burzyan bees. In Japan the last of the Usho catch fish with "living fishing rods": trained cormorants. Traditionally, they provided the Emperor's family with fresh fish. In Poland carp are fished from the ponds to provide everybody with carp for Christmas dinner - this is an old Polish tradition. In Frisia winter is driven out by fires at what is known as "Biikebrennen", and in Hungary the "Busho" - frightening characters wearing wooden masks - do a similar job. "Four seasons - Many traditions" is a journey, meeting people who are passionate at keeping old traditions alive.
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