• Director(s):

    GUIDOIN (JEAN-LUC)

  • Producer(s):

    ARTE FRANCE, LES FILMS EN VRAC, SCREENSHOT PRODUCTION, POLE PRODUCTION ET COMMUNICATION

  • Territories:

    Worldwide.

  • Production year:

    2015

  • Language(s):

    German, French

  • Rights:

    TV, DVD, NON-THEATRICAL, INTERNET, VOD

We travel to Chiclayo in North West Peru, the country’s second largest city. If there is one animal that symbolises Peru, and which we long to see through our lens, it’s the emblematic Condor. 

With its wingspan of 3 metres, the condor is one of the largest birds in the world, along with the albatross. We discover that some condors leave their natural habitat in the high Andean plateaus and fly to the coast. But why do they do this? We attempt to photograph them and to fathom their little understood and unexpected behaviour.

Heinz, who is a well-known wildlife photographer in Peru, takes us to the Illescas nature reserve 300 kilometres further north, where there are about thirty condors. The area is one of rare beauty. A desert of sand and cliffs extend into the ocean, and we witness the most incredible fauna, including colonies of sea lions, seals, thousands of birds, pink flamingos, and pelicans.

The condors are scavengers and they travel a long way to feed off the flesh of the animals that die in the nature reserve from time to time. We find it quite a challenge waiting in the hide, without moving a muscle, hoping to outsmart the condors’ impressive vigilance.