Rai Picks Up Eight NHK Docs

Japan-based NHK Enterprises has confirmed that the Italian pubcaster Rai has picked up eight of NHK’s documentaries.

For its GEO strand, Rai has licensed Bearman of Hokkaido, a film spanning ten years that touches on the question of man and nature, and Wildlife: Island Pioneers—Canada’s Sea Wolves, which depicts survival skills in the harsh environment that go against the natural instinct of wolves. Rai 5 will be airing the art doc The Lost Hokusai, which follows a team of experts who bring back to life a vanished masterpiece drawn by Katsushika Hokusai at the age of 86.

Rai Storia has taken two of NHK’s history programs—Roots of Tokyo, a two-part series that uses CGI to explore the latest findings about how samurais laid the foundations of one of the world’s largest megalopolis; and The Iron Road, which uses new archeological findings and special access to shed light on how iron changed world history.

Rai Scuola will be airing three of NHK’s science docs. AI Robots: Friend or Foe? questions whether humans can create a new form of capitalism that coexists with automation technologies. Cosmic Front: Unraveling the Permian Extinction investigates the cause of Earth’s greatest mass extinction, which wiped out over 90 percent of its species. Lastly, Antarctica: The Frozen Time Capsule explores the untouched lakebed to discover the origin of Earth’s oxygen-rich atmosphere.

Yuko Yonemura, NEP’s head of international sales, said: “We are thrilled that Rai has acquired our programs, and we are honored that two will be aired on their prestigious slot GEO. In Japan, NHK’s documentaries are appreciated for their thorough research, unique access and quality depiction often making use of the latest visual technologies. We would be happy if they could also strike a chord with viewers overseas.”