Niobe Thompson

Consistently stunning documentaries transport viewers to far-flung locations ranging from the torrid African plains to the chilly splendours of icy Antarctica. The show's primary focus is on animals and ecosystems around the world. A comic book based on the show, meant to be used an as educational tool for kids, was briefly distributed to museums and schools at no cost in the mid-2000s.

The Nature of Things is a Canadian television series of documentary programs. It debuted on CBC Television on November 6, 1960. Many of the programs document nature and the effect that humans have on it. The program was one of the first to explore environmental issues, such as clear-cut logging. The series is named after an epic poem by Roman philosopher Lucretius: "Dē Rērum Nātūrā" — On the Nature of Things.

The Blackfoot bareback horse-racing tradition returns in the astonishingly dangerous Indian Relay. Siksika horseman Allison Red Crow struggles with secondhand horses and a new jockey on his way to challenging the best riders in the Blackfoot Confederacy.

While the earliest works of art of mankind depicted horses, the early history of the two species remains largely unknown. From the last nomadic peoples of the Altai Mountains to the Bedouins of the Arabian Peninsula and the Blackfoot Indians, Canadian anthropologist and filmmaker Niobe Thompson traveled the world for two years. He went to meet these communities who live in osmosis with their horses, and tried to understand the history and the nature of the very special bond between man and animal. At the same time, the work of German evolutionary biologist Martin Fischer allows, thanks to a 3D animation, to bring back to life the ancestor of the horse, whose appearance is surprisingly reminiscent of a small fox.

Three million years ago, camels roamed through Greenland’s endless forests and our ancestors lived in the trees. It all came to an end with the Ice Ages. What died and what survived, as natural selection shaped the evolutionary tree during this epochal shift from hot to cold? Until now, scientists have known less about the natural world before the Ice Age than they did about the age of dinosaurs, which ended 64 million years ago. A new discovery is set to reveal this lost world, species by species. Led by Danish gene-hunter Eske Willerslev, a team of scientists for the first time in history is sequencing DNA from before the Ice Age. The picture that emerges is of a hot planet, when forests blanketed the Arctic and carbon levels matched those in our atmosphere today. Is this a portrait of our own climate future?

With Carbon in the news every day, you might think you know everything about her. But you’d be wrong. This spectacular and surprisingly unorthodox documentary reveals the paradoxical story of the element that builds all life, and yet may end it all. Narrated in first person by  Sarah Snook (Succession), Carbon tells of her birth in the violent core of an exploding star and of turbulent sagas through the fabric of our evolving Earth. Accompanied by celebrated scientists, unique animations and a stunning orchestral score, Carbon reminds us of our humble participation in the most extraordinary story in the universe. 

In 1951, a cheating scandal rocks West Point academy, as 83 cadets -- including the son of the school's football coach (Glenn) -- are implicated and ultimately dismissed.

In an oil-scarce world, we know there are sacrifices to be made in the pursuit of energy. What no one expected was that a tiny Native community, living down the river from Canada's tar sands, would reach out to the world for help — and be heard.

Bees are one of the most important species on the planet. A look at the trials and tribulations of two particular honeybees over two years from birth to death.

If you knew today what our changing climate would do to your family in 30 years, what would you do, right now, while there was still time to act? This short film examines the human experience of survival during a time of transformation destined to be inscribed forever in Earth’s geological record.

Matthew's heart stopped beating on the tattoo parlour table. Now, his parents hold their dying boy. But in their hands they also hold the fates of others: the promise of new lives, and death postponed. With astonishing access and remarkable intimacy, Memento Mori carries us headlong into a world of hope lost, and hope returned. An elegy to the beauty of life in the shadow of death.

In an urban backyard on Canada’s West Coast, a window salesman has created a living laboratory for investigating hummingbird behaviour. The Bird in My Backyard follows citizen scientist, Eric Pittman, as he documents the journeys of two female Anna’s hummingbirds as they attempt to raise their young in his urban garden. It’s a story about the childlike curiosity in all of us, the wonders it can reveal and the doors it can open if we just lean in a bit closer.

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9-year old Janibek lives with his family in Mongolia’s Altai Mountains. His first love is racing horses, but this winter, his father will bring him on the toughest journey in a nomad’s life: the winter migration.

Award-winning Canadian anthropologist and filmmaker Niobe Thompson brings usFrozen in Time, his newest film exploring the mysteries of evolution through the story of Natalia Rybczynski. A star in the field of paleontology, a traumatic brain injury stopped the scientist in her tracks. Before her injury, Natalia made fascinating discoveries in the Arctic, including the land-walking ancestor of seals, the first appearance of dam-building beavers, even the evolutionary origins of desert camels in Arctic snows. Her work suggests the Arctic was once a kind of evolutionary hub for species we now associate with much warmer climates. Despite her damaged brain, Natalia has never lost her curiosity and continues to study the high Arctic, once a rich forest world full of surprising creatures that thrived there before the Ice Age.

NOVA takes you inside the operating room to witness organ transplant teams transferring organs from donors to recipients. Meet families navigating both sides of a transplant, and researchers working to end the organ shortage. Their efforts to understand organ rejection, discover ways to keep organs alive outside the body, and even grow artificial organs with stem cells, could save countless lives.

The Gift is an uncompromising look into one of the world’s busiest organ-transplant hospitals. In cinéma-vérité style, we witness the most profound experiences in any human life: moments of unbearable suspense leading to sudden and senseless loss, or the unexpected joy of a second chance. With empathy and honesty, The Gift transports us to a world few of us understand, but all of us are fated to someday visit. An arresting tour de force of observational filmmaking, both beautiful and profound.

Filmmaker Niobe Thompson’s dad turned 70 this summer. So he found a “river” on a map, repaired one of his old wood canoes, and invited his family to help him celebrate the big day.