Kilimanjaro - To the Roof of Africa

Der lange Weg ans Licht

2008

Edeltraut Hertel - a midwife caught between two worlds. She has been working as a midwife in a small village near Chemnitz for almost 20 years, supporting expectant mothers before, during and after the birth of their offspring. However, working as a midwife brings with it social problems such as a decline in birth rates and migration from the provinces. Competition for babies between birthing centers has become fierce, particularly in financial terms. Obstetrics in Tanzania, Africa, Edeltraud's second place of work, is completely different. Here, the midwife not only delivers babies, she also trains successors, carries out educational and development work and struggles with the country's cultural and social problems.

A Little Fish in Deep Water

1996

Lake Tanganyika is an 'Ocean' in Africa. Millions of years ago it was colonized by a little fish called 'Cichlid'. Otters, crocodiles, cobras and cormorants all hunt the fish in clear water. How the Cichlid survived and evolved is an incredible story for, millions of years later, there are over 200 new species - all found only in Lake Tanganyika. Incredibly, they have evolved to look like coral reef fish. There are cichlid equivalents of tuna, snapper, gobies and goatfish. They have evolved bizarre methods of breeding with mouth-incubation, lekking and, unique amongst fish, there is even a cuckoo. Despite all their specialization over millions of years, if an opportunity presents itself, the little fish can behave like their unspecialized ancestor. In the climax of the film, they bang together to feast on a hatch of sardine fry. This is the story of how one little fish has conquered a lake.

Serengeti Shall Not Die

1959

The film tells of the beginnings of the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. At the end of the 1950s, the Tanzanian National Park Administration wanted to fence in the protected area around the Ngorongoro Crater. Bernhard and Michael Grzimek were invited by the national park administration in 1957 to get a precise picture of the animal migrations and to provide the national park administration with the values ​​they needed for their project. Using a new counting method with two airplanes, the Grzimeks found out that the migration of the herds was different than assumed.

Zebras of the Serengeti

2022

In East Africa, millions of animals are migrating over long distances. Among them is a young zebra who is trying to escape the fearsome predators that are an ever-present danger.

Changing Gears on Kilimanjaro

2011

Darol Kubacz is unstoppable. A U.S. Army veteran without the use of his legs, this leader and Freedom For Life Non-Profit Founder is determined to be the first disabled human to summit Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's tallest peak, without being pushed, pulled or carried.

People of the Forest: The Chimps of Gombe

1988

Documentary about chimps in Gombe.

The Secret Life of Hippos

The secret life of hippos is revealed in this award-winning documentary, which follows divers into the waters of Tanzania's National Reserve. For the first time, cameras capture on film the astonishing underwater habits of these surprising creatures. A rare look at an essential part of hippo life, filmmakers Craig Huxley and Jean-Christophe Jeauffre's captivating documentary earned the Jules Verne Adventure Film Festival Audience Award.

Sketches

2017

A British artist misses his parents' wedding anniversary for a last-minute sketching commission in Cornwall, but memories of them affect his work along the way.

My Life in the Serengeti

2014

Born in Indonesia to Victor Raoul Baron von Lawick and Isabella Sophia Baroness van Ittersum, he developed an early love for animals. He determined that film would be his medium to capture the stunning images of the Serengeti for all animal lovers. Animal researcher Jane Goodall was his wife and collaborator for many years. They wrote and produced many films together. Hugo van Lawick lived and worked on the African plains for more than thirty years. Join van Lawick on his many small and large adventures through the Serengeti, where animals play the leading role. Van Lawick received eight Emmys and numerous other awards for his extraordinary films.

Kilimanjaro: The Bigger Red Nose Climb

2019

Nine famous faces are pushed to their physical and emotional limits in a valiant attempt to scale Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, to raise money for Comic Relief and help change lives this Red Nose Day, with their turmoil and triumphs revealed in Kilimanjaro: The Bigger Red Nose Climb.

The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos

2008

In the remote and forgotten wilderness of Lake Natron, in northern Tanzania, one of nature's last great mysteries unfolds: the birth, life and death of a million crimson-winged flamingos.

A Life Among Elephants

2024

60 years ago, almost nothing was known of elephants in the wild. But then one young Scottish biologist changed that forever. In 1965 Iain Douglas-Hamilton arrived in Tanzania to live alongside African elephants. Later joined by his wife Oria and daughters Saba and Dudu, elephants became central to their lives with matriarch Boadicea and gentle young mother Virgo cherished like human relatives. But this garden Eden was short-lived as an ivory poaching epidemic swept across Africa forcing Iain to switch from pioneering scientist to maverick conservationist. He became a lone crusader against the international Ivory trade which was finally banned in 1989. Now back in the field and revealing even more about the fascinating world of elephants, Iain’s work continues alongside a new generation of Kenyan conservationists. This inspiring documentary combines stunning wildlife imagery with the story of a remarkable life showing how sometimes you have to stand alone to protect what you love.