• Director(s):

    WEIDENBACH (Thomas)

  • Producer(s):

    ARTE FRANCE, SEPPIA

  • Territories:

    Worldwide.

  • Production year:

    2012

  • Language(s):

    German, English, French

  • Rights:

    TV, DVD, NON-THEATRICAL, INTERNET, VOD

This documentary is an invitation to take the plunge into a mysterious and fascinating world - that of a small man-made lake, with a fairytale history.

Originally created for the extraction of gravel, and subsequently abandoned, an ecological miracle is now taking place there. Unknown to man, the rebirth of an entire biotype is underway, forming a veritable refuge for rare and threatened species.

A year of striking images takes the viewer on a discovery of the life of the fish, birds and mammals that populate the small lake and its surroundings. These close-to-home, fresh-water habitats provide such exceptionally beautiful images and tales of natural history, it is as though they have come directly out of the Amazon.

The documentary is the story of an ecological rebirth. For centuries, Europeans have sought to tame their rivers and drain their alluvial planes, destroying entire regions in the process. As a result of their actions, we are now observing, almost everywhere, a dramatic decline in river biodiversity. But all is not lost. As strange as it might seem, it is from these very borrow pits (the man-made lakes created for the extraction of gravel and ore), which for a long time contributed to the destruction of nature, that salvation could now come.

2013 : Best Ecological Film Award at the Naturfilm Festival (Eckeförde - Germany); Golden Tree and Best Documentary Award at the 9th International Festival of Ecological Film (Bourges - France); Golden Mediterranea at the World Underwater Picture Festival (Antibes - France).