Silence of the Tides

Four top predators are compared, each champion in a type of environment, with key adaptations. On the ground, the cheetah outruns prey (approached in masterly stealth) and enemies. In the air, the peregrine falcon is a flight and diving machine. In sweet water, the Nile crocodile survives since the Dino age, without natural enemies, with several amazing metabolism stunts. Lurking under water, it snaps blindly at migrating wildebeest, then waits underground. In the oceans, the equally ancient shark, notably the great white, migrates seasonally to find abundant prey, such as young seals around South Africa.

A vivid journey into the mysterious subterranean world of mycelium and its fruit— the mushroom. A story that begins 3.5 billion years ago, fungi makes the soil that supports life, connecting vast systems of roots from plants and trees all over the planet, like an underground Internet. Through the eyes of renowned mycologist Paul Stamets, professor of forest ecology Suzanne Simard, best selling author Michael Pollan, food naturalist Eugenia Bone and others, we experience the power, beauty and complexity of the fungi kingdom.

″Haymatloz″ tells the stories of five German Jewish academics who emigrated to Turkey in the 1930s, to be welcomed with open arms. After 1933 a considerable number of German intellectuals emigrated to Turkey at the invitation of Atatürk and went on to definitively shape teaching and instruction in Turkish universities. Turkish-born filmmaker Önsöz accompanies the descendants of these German exiles and sheds light on a memorable piece of history whose meaning is still felt to this day, as these renowned Germans played a substantial role in the Europeanization of Turkey.

The Scorpions belong to the oldest land-based arachnides with over 1800 different species known to exist. Usually, they do not surpass the size of 10cm in length, but exceptions are know, such as the Emperor Scorpion (Pandinus imperator) which can grow up to become over 20cm in size. Scorpions are mostly active at night and hide away during the day. Take a look into the live of these amazing creatures!

National Geographic filmmakers, Dereck and Beverly Joubert, explore how some animals are thrust together by the forces of nature-sometimes through a millennium of evolution or even last year’s drought. In the aftermath of strange elephant deaths, they piece together a visually stunning story that confirms their theory that lions were hunting elephants. Narrated by Jeremy Irons.

The intention of the film is to give an impression of what small exotic Denmark looks like, what the strange Danes look like and how they are. Nearly 100 Danes are presented in the film, amongst them a racing cyclist, a Minister of Finance, a popular actor and 13 unmarried women from a provincial town. "There is too much fogginess and rain and melancholy in most of the pictures of Denmark," says Jørgen Leth. "But not in my film. I would like to show you some authentic, clear and beautiful pictures from this strange country."

A documentary on Al Gore's campaign to make the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide.

ITV Naturalist Nigel Marven stars in this drama-documentary in which he explores his own back garden, in all its intricate detail. Shrunk to the size of an ant, he and his two companions - technical assistant Laura Green (Sarah Matravers) and driver Doug Kruger (Robin Lawrence) - embark on a mission to cross Nigel's back garden in just 24 hours. Along the way they meet some of the many thousands of creatures that fight for survival every day in these urban jungles .

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.

In Africa there is a fable that explains the creation of the tides. When a hyaena challenged a mudskipper to a drinking contest to decide who should own the shore, the god Mungu tilted the earth so the sea flowed inland, and neither could win.