NGTI Takes on New Doc from France

LONDON, September 5: National Geographic Television
International (NGTI) has expanded its third-party slate with the acquisition of
the rights to Red Velvet from France’s
Compass Films.

The one-hour special was filmed over the course of one year
in the Russian Altai region and focuses on the maral deer, whose antlers are
cut off every spring to be shipped to Korea for use as an aphrodisiac. “Red
Velvet is one of the most impactful films I
have seen in a long time,” said Edwina Thring, the head of programs at NGTI.
“It’s beautifully shot, has excellent production values and unusually, combines
amazing wildlife with a strong social story. The nature of the program and its
often controversial content means that this is far from a traditional family
wildlife program but anyone who watches it cannot fail to be hooked by this
amazing story.”

Thring continued, “Klaus Reisinger and Frédérique Lengaigne
at Compass Films are old-school filmmakers with a contemporary touch. They
believe in being out in the field for one to two years in order to understand
their subjects to the full and tell a story from end to end. Their approach,
coupled with the quality of their productions, is exactly what we look for when
we acquire new product, so we are delighted to be working with them and hope
that this new show is the start of a long and enduring relationship.”

Compass Films has previously made two films under commission
for National Geographic Television & Film: Elephant Power (2000) and Burma’s Forbidden Islands (2004).