Erik Baláž

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As night falls, an ethereal mist creeps over a forest cover as old as the world itself. The primeval howl of a wolf echoes across the mountains, followed by another and yet another wolf. Down in the valley, a wisent turns swiftly, a deer runs off a little and a beaver swims into its hiding place. Only a bear waits in anticipation of sponging off the prey of the wolf. This is the story about the rebirth of European wilderness, in which the wolf, the wisent, the bear and other rare animals live as freely as centuries ago.

Over the last few millennia, the European countryside has changed more than we can imagine. We drained wetlands, regulated rivers, cut down or transformed forests, exterminated large animals. And yet, there is one place that hardly changes. The Immortal Forest grows from the rocky soil below Kriváň. Its rulers are the centuries-old Arolla pines and their eternal guide, the bear.

Not so long ago, untamed nature stretched across Europe. Today, only a few such places remain. One of them is the mysterious Silent Valley in the High Tatras in Slovakia. Remote gorges and enchanting forests are home to about forty bears, who live here freely and without any conflict with humans. Two young filmmakers were inspired by these magnificent creatures, known as the guardians of the wilderness, and captured their lives on film. In doing so, they reveal the fleeting world of untamed wilderness, in which humans are mere observers.

Imagine a country where you can roam freely through ancient forests and encounter wild animals. Where you can see the stars as our ancestors saw them. A land of endless inspiration and beauty. An oasis of life. The Carpathians are among the most inaccessible mountain ranges in Europe, and at the same time, no other continent has such endangered wildlife. We will introduce you to life in these mountains, their wildest corners and most beautiful scenery from the Făgăraș Mountains in Romania, the Bieszczady Mountains in Poland, and the Tatra Mountains in Slovakia. Throughout the different seasons, you will follow the stories of charismatic species such as bears, wolves, lynxes, bison, chamois, and capercaillies. We begin our four-part series on the Carpathian wilderness and its amazing ecosystem in spring.

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Like on Noah’s Ark voyaging through the time, the chamois and other arctic like inhabitants have lived in the Tatras for more than ten thousand years. Man is here, in this alpine environment, of rare sight and snow has the mountains in grip for six-month time. As a result, the Tatras are a unique island of wilderness. “Life in Clouds” is full of contradictions, and fragile baby chamoises look lost in this harsh environment.

At Arolla Film, we strive to positively motivate people to protect wildlife through our work. Sometimes, however, the devastation of nature is so extensive and the changes so rapid that more radical measures are needed to stop them. This is the case with the capercaillie, a species closely linked to natural mountain forests. We could no longer stand by and watch as dozens of locations where the capercaillie was found until recently disappeared. That is why we decided to make a short video that uses the example of the Low Tatras to show the dramatic changes that have taken place over the last ten years. The animation is made from real satellite images, and the crosses with the names of the locations are actually extinct leks. The video is part of an initiative to save the natural habitat of the capercaillie.

It's the beginning of May. The roaring torrent, fed by the melting snow, turns the emerald water of the mountain tarns into white foam. Hundreds of springs of crystal clear water gradually flow through the Tatra wilderness to form one of the last wild rivers in Central Europe.