April 20, 2025
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April 20, 2025
IWFF Shorts Block 2: Studying the Wild
What’s so special about jumping spider vision? (“The World According to Jumping Spiders”) Why might a reindeer population in Norway growing in the face of climate change actually be a bad sign? (“Reindalen”) Do honeybees actively make decisions when collecting pollen, or are they just running on instinct? (“Uncovering Animal Minds”) These are a handful of questions filmmakers are asking in the “Studying the Wild” shorts block.
Followed by a Q&A with filmmakers!
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April 20, 2025
Get ready for a wild adventure! In this episode, we visit the Wild West, where sneaky coyotes play in the snow, and rattlesnakes come out to say hello after a long winter nap. Busy woodpeckers race to hide their snacks, and giant bison have big battles on the grasslands. You’ll also see cranes flying together on a trip they’ve been taking for millions of years! Nature is full of surprises—and this show is full of fun!
Presented alongside Animal Wonders!
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April 20, 2025
Much of life on Earth is connected by a vast, hidden network which we are only just beginning to understand. Out of sight, between the world of plants and animals, another world exists: the kingdom of fungi.
Artificial Planet: An aspiring filmmaker explores how generative artificial intelligence (AI) will impact ethical issues in the wildlife film industry.
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April 20, 2025
The phenomenally resilient women of Marado Island at the southernmost tip of South Korea are like no one else on the planet. These are Korea’s traditional Haenyeo: middle-aged and elderly female divers who hold their breath for more than two minutes to depths of up to 20 meters. They make their livelihood combing the seabed for culinary treasures for restaurants in Korea and Japan: kelp, sea cucumbers, conchs, and abalone. Once widespread across Jeju Island, Haenyeo have seen their numbers dwindle down to a handful of old-timers. Witness the daily lives and extraordinary histories of the Haenyeo as they unfold throughout the year from the depths of winter through spring, summer and autumn.
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April 20, 2025
Three orphaned desert lion cubs discover a remarkable way of survival along the mystical shores of Namibia’s Skeleton Coast. Documented over eight years, we follow the ground-breaking work of lion researcher Dr Philip Stander as he witnesses the orphaned cubs’ incredible journey, from their first unsteady steps in the heart of the desert, to their remarkable discovery of an extraordinary life along the Skeleton Coast.
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April 20, 2025
Birdsong
Director and Producer: Kathleen Harris
Ornithologist Seán Ronayne is on a mission to record the sound of every bird species in Ireland–nearly 200 birds. He travels to the country’s most beautiful and remote locations to capture its most elusive species and soundscapes: the busy seabird colony of Skellig Michael; a native woodland in the Burren; the corncrake stronghold of Tory Island. Seán’s journey illustrates the beauty and importance of sound, and what listening can tell us about the state of our natural world.
The Last Observers
Married couple Karin Persson and Lennart Karlsson have spent the last 37 years as weather observers, recording the weather every third hour, day and night, every day of the week. Their daughter portrays their last year before the weather station becomes automated, as all the other weather stations have already been. It is a multifaceted and heartwarming story about many types of love.
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April 20, 2025
After observing same-sex behaviour in orcas, naturalist Connel Bradwell embarks on a journey to unveil the diverse expressions of gender and animal behaviour in nature. Animal Pride challenges conventional wildlife assumptions and presents a riotous rebellion against stereotypes. Connel's irreverent approach takes a wrecking ball to the ivory tower of heteronormative science, demanding answers to why the world has been missing out on the wild, wonderful, and even sexy side of nature.
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April 20, 2025
A Good Wolf is a feature-length documentary film examining a 40-year conflict over a single tract of land adjacent to Denali National Park—a volatile struggle between state and federal authorities, fur trappers and wildlife advocates, and competing human interests on public lands. Armed with thorough data, biologists and activists bring a new proposal to state authorities, hoping to regain protections for wolves near the park boundary. But local trappers are adamantly opposed. Hanging in the balance are some of America’s most iconic animals and wild places.
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April 20, 2025
IWFF Shorts Block 3: Reframing the Wild
A meditation on the horseshoe crab, one of Earth's oldest living species, told through the old lecture slides of physiologist Dr. Abner Lall (“Moon Crab”). A young couple in a long-distance relationship imagines themselves as three different endangered species (“Would You Still Love Me if I was a Sticky Frog?”). A cry from the species, startled into survival against the elements, visualized through interpretive dance (“Somber Tides”). The “Reframing the Wild” shorts block presents 9 new visions in wildlife storytelling.
Includes a live Q&A with the filmmakers!
