Subjects: Life Science

During four years of shooting in the icy waters that surround the volcanic archipelago of the Crozet Islands, we have followed the trial and tribulations of Delphine, a young female adolescent killer whale. Living and growing within her family group she gradually learns how to find her bearings, how to hunt king penguins or Minke whales and how to get stranded in order to catch sea elephants. For the first time divers have dared to swim next to these great predators and have brought back an amazing collection of unique shots. Come and join us in the world of the Crozet Islands and their undisputed masters….To date,, this film is the only one-hour pure blue chip featuring killer whale in a unique environment. It has no equivalent and will not until a dedicated filming crew is willing to spend such a long time in a hostile environment….diving in icy cold waters while killer whale eating a minke whale, spending a full year in a remote hut waiting for the animal to visit the shores, or risking ones’ live to dive among preys while killer whale are hunting.

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.

Maternal instinct is a universal phenomenon, responsible in many ways for the incredible success of human biengs as a species. But contrary to the myth, maternal love is neither automatic nor guaranteed. Natural selection means many pressures influence a mother’s attitude and the choices she makes when confronted with the arrival of a new baby. In this original and provocative film, pioneering primatorologist and best selling author Sarah Blaffer Hrdy shares her vision of motherhood and its crucial role in human evolution.

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.

Using the latest technologies of image treatment and stock footage from Saint Thomas Productions’ extensive film library, this wildlife series brings the audience an insider’s view of the predator’s life and senses. Both spectacular and entertaining, the series gives a modern outlook on nature and its most spectacular ambassadors: predators. Each episode depicts a predator and its hunting techniques in its natural habitat. Following up the food chain, the programs jump from one animal to the next, from the hunter to the prey. 2 x 52 minutes.

Before being an earthly paradise with enchanting colours, the lagoon of New-Caledonia is above all a paradise for sharks. Usually considered as fierce predators, sharks really are opportunistic scavengers. Scavengers that are not too picky when it comes to their menu: feathers, fins or fur, anything will do. Amongst the most striking scenes which punctuate this documentary filmed for four years in New Caledonia, is the never-seen-before sequence of the planet’s greatest animal, a weakened blue whale, attacked and cleaned up by hordes of sharks from the surface down to the abyss. High quality images and a dramatic backdrop soundtrack plunge us into the shark’s world.