The Cairngorms in Winter with Chris Townsend(2013)

White Winter(de)

In southern Germany, winter can still be admired in all its glory every year. With its white coat of snow and icicles and myriads of small crystals that look like geometric works of art. In the valleys and on the slopes the snow is still so thick every year that the alpine huts are snowed in up to the windows. Cows and dairymen are safe in their farms at lower altitudes. But not the wild creatures of the mountains! They need strategies to survive the cold season and to defy snow masses, cold and ice. And some seem to do it so easily that they even raise their young in the middle of winter. But how do animals, plants and fungi cope with the annually recurring ice age, which from our perspective is a time of need? The many adaptations in nature prove that winter is an integral part of the natural cycle of the year and the living environment of species. They are adapted to cold and frost. That is why the animals and plants at the edge of the Alps suffer particularly from climate change!

Passion for Snow(en)

What do Daniel Webster, Dr. Seuss, C. Everett Koop, Robert Frost and 100+ Winter Olympians have in common? They all spent time at Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH where winters are long and snowy. Passion for Snow traces over 100 years of ski history in the United States with a focus on the many contributions of Dartmouth College and its alumni to the formation, growth and ongoing innovations in all aspects of snowsports. Passion for Snow combines firsthand accounts from early ski pioneers, veterans of the 10th Mountain Division, Olympians, members of the U.S. Ski Hall of Fame and top ski industry and resort executives, who explain how the most remotely located college in the Ivy League helped spawn a $25 billion industry, and continues to shape it today.

The Shepherds of Berneray(gd)

In 1980, Jack Shae and Allen Moore, two ethnographic filmmakers from Harvard University, moved their families to the island of Berneray in the Outer Hebrides. Over the course of 18 months they documented the everyday lives and struggles of the crofters they lived among, whom were even then a vanishing breed. The film is in English and Gaelic. This carefully observed documentary by filmmakers Jack Shae and Allen Moore is a poetic ethnographic film in the style of their mentor, Robert Gardner (“Dead Birds”). It follows the rhythm of life on a wind-swept island in the Outer Hebrides through the four seasons and in the filmmakers’ observation of the day-to-day struggles of a vanishing society we see the deep-time legacy of their kind. The film is in English and Gaelic.

The Boxer from Somewhere Else: The Ken Buchanan Story(en)

Charts the life and career of Scottish boxer Ken Buchanan, the 1970-71 undisputed lightweight world champion.

Wild Shetland: Scotland's Viking Frontier(en)

Ewan McGregor narrates a captivating portrait of wild Shetland and traces the course of a breeding season as the animals on these remote islands battle for survival.

Nanook of the North(en)

This pioneering documentary film depicts the lives of the indigenous Inuit people of Canada's northern Quebec region. Although the production contains some fictional elements, it vividly shows how its resourceful subjects survive in such a harsh climate, revealing how they construct their igloo homes and find food by hunting and fishing. The film also captures the beautiful, if unforgiving, frozen landscape of the Great White North, far removed from conventional civilization.

Polaris(en)

Work. Eat. Sleep. And back to work. For a long time skippers in the North East of Scotland could not find locals to work on their fishing vessels. That was until Filipino fishermen started coming to town for work. Both nationalities strive to shorten the distance between two very different worlds.

Aberdeen(en)

Explore the growth of Aberdeen’s sparkling streets.

Black Ice(en)

Black Ice is a short film about a group of sailing enthusiasts who have adapted the principles of the sport to winter conditions. The sight of a fragile craft whisking across a frozen lake at one hundred km/h, leaving a shower of powdered ice in its wake, is breathtaking. Iceboat racing is exciting; a sport like no other in the world.

Winter Light(en)

Sunlight in a winter forest.

Snowfall(en)

As a winter storm approaches the shallow water crystallizes, ice builds up along the edges of a stream, and the first snowflakes of the storm layer over the newly formed ice. The following morning a soft light approaches through the snow covered forest.

Forest Light(de)

Space and Light(en)

An award-winning wordless documentary that explores the architecture of the then new St. Peter's Seminary which is now seen as one of the most important post-war buildings in the United Kingdom. The film was made in celebration after architect Jack Coia was awarded the RIBA Gold Medal in 1969. Winner of the Medalla de Bronce at the Fifth Union of International Architects Festival in Madrid (1975).

The White Search(en)

American ski film pioneer Dick Barrymore pursues the white stuff in the mountains of Colorado, France, and Lebanon. Goofy events, nail-biting bloopers, and gorgeous powder skiing ensue. Starring Jean-Claude Killy, Beth Annabel, John Burnett, and Bob Burns.

Shangku Shelter(en)

Zanskar is a remote kingdom in the northwest Indian Himalaya, where local people are snow-bound for six months of the year. About 10,000 Zanskaris live in the isolated valley. In winter, mountain passes are blocked, the summer Jeep road closes and buses stop. Two decades ago, three friends founded a ski school - to enable winter travel in the valley, improve quality of life, and to encourage young people to stay in Zanskar by helping establish a culture of mountain sports. The film tells the story of this friendship, the ski school and the development of skiing in the area. Along the way a bigger question is raised. Most recently, the federal government announced a major road building project that will provide year round access to Zanskar. How can Zanskar's wilderness be preserved? It is only a matter of time before the winter road is completed, and the "Big India" rushes in.

The Orkney Assassin: Murder in the Isles(en)

In 1994, a masked man shot a waiter in the only Indian restaurant in the Orkney Islands. The murder remained unsolved for years, until new evidence emerged. Delve into one of Scotland's most controversial cases, now with powerful new testimony.

Big Gold Dream: Scottish Post-Punk and Infiltrating the Mainstream(en)

Documentary on the independent Edinburgh record label Fast Product and Postcard Records and associated bands like Fire Engines, Scars and Josef K

Life In The Snow(en)

In a seasonal special, Gordon Buchanan meets the animals who live in nature's winter wonderlands. He reveals their survival secrets, from the polar bear mother who gives her cubs the best possible start in life to the owl that finds food hidden beneath a blanket of snow, plus the plucky penguins that huddle together to keep warm. Gordon also unwraps the lives of our favourite Christmas characters - those wonderful reindeer and our very own robin redbreast!

Night Mail(en)

This documentary short examines the special train on which mail is sorted, dropped and collected on the run, and delivered in Scotland on the overnight run from Euston, London to Glasgow.

Retying the Knot: The Incredible String Band(en)

A profile of the Hippest band of the 60's and 70's as they prepare for a reunion gig.