Harald Pokieser

Pouring out of Lake Victoria, the Nile bursts into life, growing vast with sandy banks and mighty rapids. Under the scorching sun, elephant herds leave the savannah to drink and bathe in the river. This three-part series explores all the different faces of the world’s most ultimate river.

The endless expanses of the Indian Ocean are home to the last natural paradises: Remote atolls surrounded by coral reefs in crystal clear water. Whole regions of this ocean are still unexplored, many reefs are not marked on any map. The departure of the research vessel Agulhas II from the island of La Réunion marks the beginning of one of the greatest scientific adventures of our time. The expedition, initiated by Monaco Explorations with the support of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, lasted six weeks and led into the Western Indian Ocean along the Mascarene Plateau.

St. Stephen’s Cathedral ranks amongst Austria‘s most famous cultural monuments. Yet, one would not think of that Cathedral being one of the most astonishing natural areas in Austria.Georg Riha and his team have explored the Cathedral from its foundations to the top of its 136 meter spire and discovered a true botanical and zoological garden: wild animals, exotic butterflies, kestrels, moss, lichen and even trees.

As all the world knows, Vienna is a city on the Danube.Day after day, the metropolis and its inhabitants consume roughly 370,000 cubic metres of water – hardly unusual for a city as big.It may come as a surprise that not one drop of this water is abstracted from the Danube.All water drunk, used for cooking, showering and flushing or drawn from wells, all water that enters sewers and treatment plants originates in the Alps.Crystal-clear drinking water adds glamour and brilliance to the city.How this valuable resource travels to Vienna, changing itself and the city in the process before ending up in the river, is the stuff of stories. This is the story of Vienna’s water.

An ancient fortress, a historic centre of true baroque, the venue of a legendary stage festival - this is the Salzburg familiar to everyone. But Georg Riha's documentary presents Mozart's city from perspectives never seen before.Unshackled by space and time the viewer enters upon a unique filmic foray into one of the world's most popular cultural centres, discovering the still unknown and hidden beauties of this fascinating city off the beaten tourist tracks.

Join Georg Riha and his team in this ORF-UNIVERSUM production and discover one of the most beautiful stretches along the Danube.Featuring a great number of aerial shots, this documentary captures the cultural and natural beauty of the entire region, as well as portraying the Alzinger family in their vineyards during the seasons.The Wachau, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is presented from unusual perspectives, offering spectacular views of this picturesque area.

The documentary “The Leopard Rocks” accompanies Neelam, a female leopard, as she fights for the lives of her offspring, and provides a fascinating insight into the lives and adventures of one of the world's most interesting big cat species in a unique, unusual environment.

Two qualities define the Nile as the ultimate river. First, it is the world’s longest river. From the source in Rwanda to the end at the Mediterranean Sea, it travels 6650 kilometres (4130 miles). Second, the Nile is a truly cosmopolitan water. Its source lies in tropical Africa, its most important tributary – the Blue Nile – originates in the Ethiopian highlands. Its longest stage – through Sudan and Egypt – is characterised by Arab influences. Travelling through a sea of sand, this river gives life. It passes Africa’s largest city – Cairo – and ends only a few hundred kilometres away from Europe, in the Mediterranean Sea.

Grossglockner is Austria’s highest peak and the eastern Alps’ most impressive summit. Rising to a height of almost 3900 meters, the ‘BLACK MOUNTAIN’ towers over an Alpine natural paradise, the Hohe Tauern National Park, where ibex and chamoix roam the cliffs, wild flowers grow in amazing profusion and golden eagles soar above the valleys.Georg Riha presents dizzying perspectives of the glaciers, sheer cliffs and steep ravines that shape the face of this rocky giant and continue to attract and challenge a steady stream of mountaineers.

Gabon's Loango National Park is home to a group of western lowland gorillas who have become accustomed to biologists who have studied them for almost twenty years. This documentary presents an intimate look at the silverback Kamaya and his family and features a newborn baby gorilla, brave researchers, forest elephants, buffalos and the last remaining wild coastline in the African tropics.

Vienna is surrounded by nature – a green belt encloses the city and contributes to the high quality of life in Austria’s capital.However, it is not just these woods the citizens of Vienna can name their own. The city of Vienna also owns the protected source areas in the Hochschwab and Schneeberg-Rax region, where Vienna’s Water comes from.2005 marks the 100th anniversary of the creation of the green belt around Vienna. On that occasion Georg Riha and his team have produced this ORF-UNIVERSUM documentary, commissioned by the City of Vienna.Sit back and enjoy the rough beauty of the Hochschwab region, the majestic peak of Schneeberg, picturesque autumn sceneries, the „classic“ Vienna Woods and the fascinating winter wonderland of the Danube Wetland Forest National Park.

Discover the incredible story of a group of dedicated people working to protect one of the planet’s last refuges for Africa's iconic wildlife.

This is the unusual portrait of two hunters - the cheetah and the hyena. It is a dramatic story built around the competition for prey and territory and the fight for survival.

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Uganda is still what travellers consider an ‘insider tip’. Off the tourist map, a place still in the shadows of its past. Visitors, including scientists and conservationists, had a difficult time in the civil war-stricken country. Poaching had endangered many of Uganda’s most iconic animals including Mountain gorillas, cave elephants, the chimpanzees and even the tree-dwelling lions. But now the national parks have been restored and Uganda’s wildlife is once again thriving. This is a celebration of their survival.

An old Slovak legend says: When God created the Earth, He distributed beauty to angels to spread it over the lands. The youngest of them wanted to shorten his way through the high mountains. However, he did not manage to take off higher with the burden. He tripped on one of the sharp shields and all his beauty was scattered across the surrounding valleys. The ancient Slavs gave the wild mountains full of game and superstition the name of the Tatras. Today we know that they are the smallest mountains in the world. Try to look carefully into their kingdom with us. Quietly look around and let your thoughts be carried away by the majesty of nature. You may touch the knowledge of how everything relates to everything in this world. And maybe you will understand your responsibility to preserve the wilderness, which should remain here for future generations as if frozen in time.

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An exploration of Lake Tanganyika, the second biggest and deepest lake in Africa, and the astonishing life that flourishes from it.