Chasing Big Cats

Living With Lions(en)

Exclusive two-disc film documenting the British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa in the summer of 1997. The unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to the team shows the preparations, the training, the fun, the team selection, the 'earthy' language, the bonding, the awesome task of playing and some shocking footage of injuries. Despite securing the series with wins in the first two tests, the Lions remained motivated by the prospect of a 3-0 whitewash, a feat never achieved against the Springboks throughout the century.

Intimate Enemies(en)

Life on the savannah of southern Tanzania is a study in contrast between rainy and dry seasons. When water is abundant, the wildebeest at the rivers provide food for the lion population, while the buffalo graze contentedly on the succulent grasses in the hills. The two great adversaries -- lion and buffalo -- can keep their distance. Intimate Enemies is a film about the relationship between these two great animals as a drought forces them into a titanic battle

My Tiger Family(en)

In the jungles of north west India, there lives a remarkable wild tiger family. Now, using 50 years of footage, the story of their matriarchal clan is pieced together.

Predator's Playground(en)

The animals of this African spring run a deadly gauntlet to survive. The spring flows out of a sandy river bed 30km inland from the Zambezi River and is the lifeline for hundreds of animals between August and the end of November each year. But taking a drink from this water source comes at a price, as it is flanked by a cliff on either side and forms a perfect ambush alley for the two resident lion prides with one shared goal: eat as much buffalo as possible. It is the perfect place to hunt, a predator’s playground

The Leopard Son(en)

The true story of the birth, growth and coming of age of a leopard cub in Africa's Serengeti plain. The journey of "The Leopard Son" begins at his mother's side where he discovers, through play, essential skills for survival in the wild. As it is with humans, there inevitably comes the day when a child must leave his mother to go out on his own.

Predators of the Wild: Cheetah and Leopard(en)

Cheetah and Leopard... no animal can match the intensity of their power and grace. On the horizon, the next victim draws near, crouched in the grass, senses honed, an explosive rush, claws extend and then the final clamp of fangs in a jugular embrace. Discover what separates these predators from all others. The cheetah, the ultimate tactician, single minded in its abandon for the lightning-fast gazelle. And the leopard, an invincible opportunist lying in wait for the unwary. Both driven by pure instinct and the constant pressure to kill.

Beard Chef(en)

A look at the life of a man and his hat and his beard.

Lionnes(fr)

National Geographic: Lion Warriors(en)

On the Great Plains below Mount Kilimanjaro in Kenya, lions are attacking Maasai cattle, as they have for hundreds of years. And the proud Maasai warriors have hunted them ruthlessly in return so that now only about 2,000 remain in the country. If their numbers drop any lower, their populations will not be sustainable. Now the Maasai elders and chiefs are recognizing that the threat to their lions is also a threat to their way of life, and have forbidden the warriors from hunting them. Wildlife filmmaker Kire Godal, with the support of executive producers Dereck and Beverly Joubert, captures firsthand the struggle of these modern-day warriors who are reinventing their traditions to help save the lions they once prided themselves on killing.

Tree Climbing Lions(en)

In the heart of Uganda, there are lion prides that spend much of their lives in the trees – a rare and mysterious behavior seen in few other places in Africa – and little is known about why they do it. Big cat biologist Alexander Braczkowski sets out to study these lions, and his journey takes an unexpected, emotional turn.

Africa: The Serengeti(en)

The equation of life on the Serengeti is simple: carnivores eat plants, herbivores eat carnivores. Africa: The Serengeti takes you on an extraordinary journey to view a spectacle few humans have ever witnessed. The Great Migration. Journey with more than two million wildebeests, zebras and antelopes in their annual 500 mile trek across the Serengeti plains

Fast, Cheap & Out of Control(en)

Errol Morris’s Fast, Cheap & Out of Control interweaves the stories of four men, each driven to create eccentric worlds from their unique obsessions, all of which involve animals. There’s a lion tamer who shares his theories on the mental processes of wild animals; a topiary gardener who has devoted a lifetime to shaping bears and giraffes out of hedges and trees; a man fascinated with hairless mole rats; and an MIT scientist who has designed complex, autonomous robots that can crawl like bugs.

Gros chat(fr)

Siméon Malec, host on Pakueshikan FM radio, receives Marie-Soleil Bellefleur on the air to discuss new regulations concerning salmon nets. To their great dismay, the duo is constantly interrupted by increasingly worrying calls... It seems that a lion has been seen in the community!

The Secret Leopards(en)

Jonathan Scott narrates the extraordinary story of the leopard - the one big cat that still survives across half the world while tigers, cheetahs and lions are all struggling. By following the lives of leopard mothers and their cubs in East Africa the film investigates what it is about the natural history of these cats that makes them born survivors. Perhaps the most extraordinary revelation is that leopards are living undercover on farms and even in cities across Africa and Asia.

Lion Battle Zone(en)

Five lion prides in Africa compete for scare food and each have adopted their own style of hunting. Follow them as they take down everything from buffalo to giraffes. Only the most cunning and capable will survive.

Africa's Super Seven(en)

On the northern bank of the Sand River in the Mala-Mala Game Reserve in South Africa, seven magnificent creatures reside in an area the size of Manhattan Island. Tracking them for 24 hours reveals a never-ending daily drama.

Speak of the Devil(en)

But what is the Church of Satan? Who is Anton LaVey? Where is he from? Why does he do that? It does not take much to imagine the worst. Orgiastic ceremonies, where one revels in the blood of virgins, moonlight lamb sacrifices, noise concerts in the basement of a historical building… No, really nothing that amusing among the activities in the Church of Satan. Anton LaVey is nothing like a horned Charles Manson, and his path is all the more unexpected. Nick Bougas allows us to discover the artist, the musician, the philosopher, all through hallucinatory images retrieved from archives, making this rare documentary only two years before the author of the Satanic Bible disappeared.

Malika the Lion Queen(en)

Follows life of Malika, a lioness in South Africa’s Kruger National Park as she battles to survive.

Lions and Hyenas: Owners of Death, Guardians of Life(en)

For many years lions and hyenas have competed hard for meat. Both control each other, stealing and killing each other. But in this game, both survive and no one prevails.Their destinies are united. This is the story of the ancestral confrontation between the most iconic predators of Africa

The Last Lions(en)

In Botswana's Okavango Delta, an ostracized lioness and her two cubs must fight alone to survive - overcoming all manner of hazards. Their only defense is to escape to Duba Island -- and with that, an unknown future. The setting for this epic tale is one of the last regions where lions can live in the wild. Faced with dwindling land and increasing pressure from hunting, lions - like our lone lioness and her cubs - are approaching the brink of extinction.