The Kingdom of Fungi
Official Treaty Co-‐production between Smith&Nasht in Australia and Real to Reel Productions in Canada
Mysterious deaths on Vancouver Island lead to startling discoveries – a harmless soil dwelling fungus has evolved into a killer. Untreated, it is lethal, but paradoxically what we are learning about fungi might also be our saviour.
In our science documentary THE KINGDOM OF FUNGI we reveal how fungi eked out life from barren rocks in hostile conditions and thrived despite facing the fiercest wars of Nature. By understanding how fungi survives the continuous onslaught of a micro cosmos of voracious worms, predatory amoebas, bacteria, viruses and other fungi, novel drugs could be within our grasp. Fungi is being tested to treat cancer, Alzheimer disease, existential anxiety, depression and the next generation antibiotics. By looking at fungi in the context of evolution and natural history discoveries that will change our lives are being made.
THE KINGDOM OF FUNGI is a fascinating exploration of a spectacular yet little known world with a series of pay-‐offs that can change our lives and future for better. This is natural history that matters.
Renowned science documentary director Annamaria Talas will take us into the fascinating Kingdom of Fungi with ingenious scientists at the forefront of this revolutionary work.
THE LEGEND OF THE ICE BEARS
A Unique 3D Experience in a place
NORTH OF ORDINARY
Once a year, in the far, far north of Canada, the elemental forces of nature create a scenario that is so magical – and so unlikely – that if we weren’t showing it to you in rich, immersive 3D, you wouldn’t believe us.
In a place where the river never freezes, even in midwinter, the legend of the Ice Bear was born. A sacred place the Vuntut Gwitchin people call Bear Cave Mountain, one of the last truly wild places on earth. Straddling the Arctic Circle in the Yukon, the place where this extraordinary scenario plays out, is an oasis of life in a frozen desert. A place where schools of salmon come to spawn, and where the legendary Ice Bears congregate, shimmering in the low Arctic sunlight, tinkling as they walk, routinely bathed in the eerie glow of the Aurora Borealis.
Bear Cave Mountain is as remote and as isolated as anywhere on earth and sits at the heart of a wilderness area that is twice the size of Switzerland. And yet is inhabited by less than 350 people. The nearest human habitation is a long helicopter ride away. There are no roads.
This will be the first 3D documentary to capture the soul stirring beauty of Bear Cave Mountain and the annual congregation of Ice Bears, but it will also be a rare opportunity to experience a magical region that can only be described as a place NORTH OF ORDINARY.
WOMBAT WARRIORS 1x 60
The race is on in Australia to save the southern hairy nosed wombat, under siege from farmers, reckless hunters and an unexplained disease. Raising the alarm is a small and diverse group of dedicated wombat lovers. Conservation biologists Elisa Sparrow and David Taggart have devoted their professional lives to researching these shy and mysterious marsupials. When they aren’t out monitoring the animals, they host beer and BBQ nights to share their findings with local farmers in an effort to encourage a more peaceful co-existence. Brigitte Stevens who rescues and rehabilitates orphaned and injured wombats wants farmers compensated for damages. Local artists and writers Liz Frankel and Garry Duncan think the answer to saving wombats is to reach kids. Their award winning book ‘Hairy Nose, Itchy Butt’ has brought the wombats’ plight to school children across the country. How do you make people care and save a shy, nocturnal marsupial that lives mostly out of sight?
TEN GREEN BOTTLES 1x 90 and 1 x 60
Feature Docu-drama
The film is based on the highly acclaimed book, Ten Green Bottles, which recounts the compelling story of a family’s escape from Nazi oppression in Europe to the only place in the world that would accept them – the city of Shanghai. They are part of the little known story of 30,000 European Jews (Shanghailanders) who survived the Holocaust half a world away from home, under Japanese occupation. They believed that if that ‘last green bottle should fall’, Hitler would win and they weren’t about to let that happen. We tell this dramatic story through the eyes of 19 year old Nini Karpel as she bravely negotiates her family out of Austria and through ten years of hardship in an exotic haven that strangely became home.
MORE…
In addition to the projects listed above, Real to Reel has a few more ideas in development that are still under wraps. Please contact us for more information about our projects in development.
©REAL TO REEL PRODUCTIONS INC. is an award-winning Canadian independent specializing in factual series, documentaries, docu-dramas, and more recently 3D and multi-platform new media content. Regardless of format or whether the subject matter focuses on science, history, wildlife, social issue or the arts, Real To Reel promises engaging storytelling, strong characters and high production values.
Contact: Anne Pick annepick@r2r.ca and Bill Spahic spahic@sympatico.ca
Toronto Canada (416) 763-0001