TV Real In-Demand: Science & Technology

Society-transforming ideas, climate change and space take center stage in these new science and technology docs: ZDF Enterprises’ Great Inventions, Albatross World Sales’ On Thin Ice and TVF International’s Searching for Light.

Great Inventions

Commissioned By: ZDF Enterprises
Produced By: Off the Fence, doc.station, World Media Rights and k22 for ZDF Enterprises.
Rights Available: All rights worldwide from ZDF Enterprises.
Description: In this series, we look at the successes and the failures, the brilliant ideas, and some, well, not so brilliant. This series celebrates the million ways great inventions have transformed our world. The series consists of 35 50-minute episodes. Each celebrates the eureka moment of the invention, shows the world before and after and offers a glimpse into the future. Graphics are used to explain the technology, while international experts unravel the social significance and look at the inventions from the perspective of their own specialist fields—such as physics, medicine, psychology or history. Unique archive footage and exciting shots provide a wealth of fascinating images and a fresh look at the science.
Pitch Perfect: “This long-running series, created in collaboration with some of the greatest production companies in Europe, talks in a modern and entertaining way about all the things that we tend to take for granted in our modern civilization, highlighting their history and their meaning for our lives in the past, present and future,” says Ralf Rückauer, VP of ZDFE.unscripted at ZDF Enterprises.
Sales Contact: Ralf Rückauer, VP, ZDFE.unscripted.

On Thin Ice

Commissioned By: MDR, ARTE
Produced By: Altayfilm
Rights Available: All rights, worldwide, distributed by Albatross World Sales.
Description: The Arctic is a fascinating region, but all life is in grave danger due to climate change. Gripping imagery from one of the remotest areas of the world in this 1×52-minute HD and 4K production.
Pitch Perfect: In the Russian Arctic, Pandora’s box has been opened. Scientists, indigenous people and wild animals have long been confronted with the consequences of climate change in the region. Gripping imagery and storytelling reveal the devastating, perhaps irreversible, effects, as the Arctic becomes a haunting warning sign of the effects of climate change for the whole planet.
Slot Winner: Nominated for Best Changing Planet Film—Long Form at the Jackson Wild Media Awards and the Homeland Earth Audience Award at the Silbersalz Festival in Halle, Germany. Also nominated in three categories at the 2020 Green Screen—International Wildlife Film Festival in Eckernförde, Germany: Heinz Sielmann Award, GREEN REPORT and Best Science Film.
Sales Contacts: Lisa Anna Schelhas, Sales Manager, Europe (except Eastern Europe), Americas, Australia, New Zealand; Eleytheria Heine, Sales Manager, Asia, Middle East, Africa, Russia & CIS; Claudia Zell, Sales Manager, Eastern Europe.

Searching for Light

Commissioned By: For the market.
Produced By: In-House Films
Rights Available: All rights available worldwide from TVF International.
Description: This 60-minute special is about an astronomer’s odyssey to find the darkest skies on Earth.
Pitch Perfect: Follow professional astronomer Gary Fildes on a mission to find the darkest skies on Earth. His journey takes him from the Kielder Observatory in England to the bustling metropolis of Santiago, Chile, before heading into the Atacama Desert to visit the most advanced astronomical facilities on the planet. Gary witnesses true dark skies, learning from leading scientists how the Chileans protect this most precious natural asset. On his return to the U.K. the sky above the Kielder Observatory is granted protected status from the International Dark Skies Association, making it the largest dark sky reserve in Europe.
Sales Contact: Lindsey Ayotte, Head, Sales.