Producers: Village Distribution

Meet Chinstrap, Macaroni, Adelie, Gentoo, King and… Queen. Spend a year with them in the icy waters or on the volcanic islands of the vast Southern Ocean. Do not fall from the cliff when you leave in the morning and always be certain to catch the right wave on your return home before sunset. Watch out your “friends” who are always ready to push you off the iceberg. On rocky outcrops, always keep your distances with your neighbour, at least 2 feet. Meet your partner this evening, as it is your turn to take care of your fat feathered kids for the next 15 days. Most important of all: if you want to see your family again, avoid all welcoming committees of Fur Seals and departure festivities of Leopard Seals. How does it feel to be a penguin?

In the summer, space becomes dear on the beaches of the Sub-Antartic islands. There, penguins and sea elephants live jumbled up together, caught in the throes of breeding and bringing up the little ones. Such overpopulation leads to tensions between species and individuals. The crowds of penguins and elephant seals attract many scavengers as well as dangerous predators like giant petrels, the vultures of those icy climes, and killer whales full of hunting tactics. More agile, the fur seals and the wandering albatrosses, those indefatiguable gliders, seem to escape the chaotic throng. Like the other animals, however, they are dependent on the ocean,their only source of food in these isolated lands. When winter comes, this cohabitation ends. Their breeding duties finished, the different animals return to the waters they are used to wander in.

The dolphin is still full of surprises. Group assistance, an unknown side of this charismatic animal’s behavior, is the central theme of this documentary presented as a scientific tale. Unveiling a wide range of behaviors in oceans around the globe, this initiatory voyage depicts the dolphin’s altruistic world as we follow the misadventures of one of them in search of a host group. May it be while hunting fish stranded in shallow waters in South Carolina, playing with a venomous snake in the Rangiroa lagoon, defending the group against a tiger shark attack in the Marquesas islands, parading in the crystal-clear pacific waters or surfing on waves from the bows of tankers in Texas, everything relies on the group: the dolphin needs to be surrounded by its peers to feed, defend himself, communicate and breed.

Wildlife films spy for us into the natural world and bring to the comfort of our armchairs beautiful, moving and breathtaking footage. Behind their cameras, filmmakers face mishaps, experience fears, apprehensions but also big laughs. Theirs is a world of patience, unpredictability and danger. To find out about these intense moments, let’s turn the cameras on them. Following gorillas in the forests of Rwanda, filming cheetahs chasing their prey or putting inquisitive gorillas at ease by letting them satisfy their curiosity requires great art. If filming in the wild can be a risky business in places like the African Savannah, crews also encounter hilarious situations: they must sometimes submit to the animals’ appetite for social contact. Ingenuity, compromises and acrobatic skills are often needed to capture on film several second sequences. The result is a funny and entertaining film that takes us behind the scenes and shows us what filmmakers must go through to bring us images of the natural world.

Who are these ferocious predators of the Antarctic continent that kill each year thousands of penguins and leave some injured birds behind to the scavengers of the ice? To find out, come and follow Göran Ehlmé, an experienced underwater cinematographer and expert of the cold seas, in his quest to uncover the fascinating behavior of the secretive… Leopard Seals. Amidst the pristine but freezing waters surrounding the white continent, the audience will be given a unique insight into the mysterious daily lives of Leopard Seals and discover some never-before-filmed behaviors of these highly intelligent predators. ” Killer seals” will reveal how Leopard Seals hunt penguins underwater or on land, charging unwary trespassers on the ice, be they penguin or human! Thanks to Göran Ehlmé’s close and emotional relationship with Leopard Seals, the public will be astonished to discover that each animal has – like human beings – its own distinctive character and moods. Göran is one of the rare divers in the world who dares to defy the deadly jaws of this predator in order to gain its trust and solve the mystery of its natural but puzzling aggressive temper.