Institut für den wissenschaftlichen Film (IWF)

Various amphibious pond dwellers, including grass frogs, tree frogs, common toads and other amphibians are shown moving around, feeding, mating, fertilizing and evolving. Also on display are natterjack and midwife toads, yellow-bellied toads and water frogs.

The film shows open air shots of life in the colony of the sea lion. The following behaviours are shown: establishing territories and rivalry fights, courting and mating, feeding the young, play among young animals.

A portrait of the German city of Ulm and it's social activities, fassades, court building. Also about the role of the district court during National Socialism.

Every fifth year in Förste/Nienstedt people gather to the "Schüttenhoff" (shooters court). For five days at Easter processions of three "battalions" take place symbolizing the storming, defence and conquering of barricades erected by inhabitants or local associations. The three "battalions" are the riflemen (responsible for taking the barricade), the farmers (responsible for defending the barricades) and the pioneers (responsible for mopping up). Two of the five processions are shown, men on Whitsun Sunday and women on the following Tuesday.

The Entlebuch is a rural pre-alpine area of Central Switzerland, known for its backwardness and isolation. This film deals with the contemporary life of the inhabitants of the region, between tradition and modernity. The protagonists' accounts of their own lives show the wide range of attitudes and offer insight into the valley's regional identity.

The courtship behavior of Great Bustards is studied. The male Great Bustard is considerably larger than the female. This impression is reinforced during courtship when the male dances in front of the female, showing the light undersides of its wings and inflating its throat pouch.

Experiments on the crystallization of various inorganic substances: crystallization from solution, crystallization from melt and vapour phase, mixed crystal formation, oriented growth, change from a metastable into a stable phase.

The three-spined stickleback is shown. Nest building, zigzag dance, fanning at the nest, sometimes following a female, also short mouth fights, the female swimming into the nest, spawning, the male poking at the rear end of the partner, inseminating the eggs in the nest after the female swims away.

Using gland regions on their heads, warthogs mark poles and other objects for self-orientation. Males often mark during the mating season. The male also sprays urine when searching for and inspecting sleeping cavities.

Bonobos show a particularly pronounced sexual activity and an extraordinarily broad spectrum of sexual contacts for primates. These also extend to non-reproductive life phases and partner combinations. For example, homosexual contacts and sexual contacts between young animals or with adults are frequent, and females are ready to mate throughout the menstrual cycle. Bonobos use sexual contacts not only for reproductive purposes, but also in the context of social conflicts, where they have a clear tension-reducing or peacemaking function.

The arousal behavior of the warthog is shown. Also explained is the muzzle fight between boars and females.

Short film about the movement patterns of protozoa

The film shows birds and mammals of Spitzbergen: The snow bunting, Phalaropus fulicarius, Stercorarius parasiticus, the red throated loon, the arctic gull, the puffin, the black guillemot, the loon and the common guillemot are photographed at the hatching place. In addition reindeer, arctic foxes and musk oxen are shown. The voices of seven kinds of animals are heard.

For its reproduction, the megaloprepus dragonfly specifically relies on periodic puddles in tree holes and bromeliacea in tropical rain forests. Territorial males tenaciously defend these resources. Females lay their eggs in the water holes of the territorial males and are guarded by them. Any satellite male - i. e., one without a territory - who tries to grab a female is driven away by the territorial male.

Queen rearing is one of the most important areas of beekeeping. After explaining the breeding objectives, the three most common methods for rearing queen bees are described: Breeding in the queenless colony; breeding via the pre-brood box; breeding via starter and finisher. Special attention is also paid to the selection and presentation of the breeding material, selection and preparation of the care colony, controlled mating and the safe introduction of queens into the colonies.

The film shows the spatial distribution and the behaviour of the Mediterranean demoiselle Calopteryx haemorrhoidalis on typical reproduction waters. The great importance of suitable perches becomes obvious. These perches, e. g. single rush stems, are used by immature, hunting individuals as well as by reproductive males that are controlling territories from these sites. The latter chase all other individuals, the result being a spatial segregation between immature and reproductive specimens during the day. Typical behaviour, such as threatening, courting, copulation, and oviposition is shown in different film speeds.

Gliding flight, soaring flight and flapping flight are presented as basic types of bird flight. The development of lift and propulsion are explained in the animation. Special features of shaking flight, take-off and landing are shown for different types of birds.

The film documents the tobacco season of 1993/94 from the planting of the tobacco through the harvest and sale until the sowing for the next season - using some small planters from the villages around Schwedt on the Oder and a large farm, the former Agricultural Co-operative in Vierraden in an exemplary manner. It describes the transformation in the technical and agricultural fields. Different planters and representatives of the Tobacco Grower's Association discuss the situation of tobacco planting in the GDR compared to current conditions and answer questions on their self-organisation and on the future of tobacco cultivation in the Uckermark.

The flight and feeding customs of the most important sea bird species of the Galapagos Islands are described. Some characteristic body and wing measurements are used to describe the flight of these species. The species which are able to forage furthest out at sea and deepest in the water are the most successfull on the Galapagos Islands, measured by their abundance. The least abundant bird is the lava-gull, a shore bird and surface-feeder.

Calopteryx cornelia only occurs in one color morph and shows the typical dragonfly behavior. Species of the genus Mnais form different color morphs. Males with intensely colored wings are dominant over males with hyaline wings.