Atara Film GmbH

In the secluded isolation of Christmas Island, crabs have become the guardians of a lush rainforest kingdom. The robber crab is an unruly king, with a meter-wide leg-span and claws that can open a coconut. As we follow the robber’s life cycle, we learn that crabs are much more than creepy crawlies.

An adventurous ski tour of two sisters, who follow the tracks of their father, across the pristine landscape of New Zealand. 30 years ago, Gottlieb Braun-Elwert set out on an un-chartered expedition. He conquered the major glaciers of the Southern Alps and crossed 40km and 4000 vertical meters, from the heart of the South Island to the Pacific in just 18 hours. A route of astonishing beauty, immense freedom, breathtaking vistas and the danger of the uncontainable nature. He called this route “Symphony on Skis”. Now, his daughters Carla, Elke and a small team of adventurers embark on the same adventure. This film is a homage to their late father who found a love and home in New Zealand's Southern Alps.

As a bird warden, Kilian spends seven months alone on a barrier island in the Heligoland Bight. His tasks are simple: monitoring wildlife and collecting flotsam. The rich birdlife, extreme weather and ever-changing landscape are conveyed both through imagery and a soundtrack of wind, rain and birdsong. Contact with others is rare, but the intrusion of the outside world is all the more striking. The film’s melancholic atmosphere echoes both solitude and a sense that this fragile sanctuary is deeply at risk. Beyond its precise observations, an essay on climate change and militarisation emerges.