The Tatra Mountains

Wild at Heart

The High Tatra between Poland and Slovakia is a rare wilderness in Europe. It has the largest population of brown bears in Central Europe. The film explores what attracts them and many other rare species to this habitat.

Schedule

Director: Erik Baláž

Erik Baláž (*1978) grew up under the Tatra Mountains and since he was sixteen he has spent a lot of time here in the wilderness. In 2002 he graduated from the “Forest ecology” at the Technical University in Zvolen with a thesis on the ecology of bears. Already during his studies he was active in the campaigns of the Wolf Forest Protection Movement, the aim of which was protection of natural forests and large carnivores. He led a successful campaign for the protection of Tichá and Kôprová valleys in the Tatras. This area today is the largest wilderness area in Slovakia. He is the co-author of a successful book about bears The Last Stronghold and of the film Keeper of the Wilderness. Erik is the initiator of a new nature protection project in the Eastern Carpathians, which includes the upcoming film The Wolf Mountains.

Germany
2017
44 Min.
German
6
Director: Erik Baláž
Script: Erik Baláž
Cinematography: Adam Baštek, Jozef Fiala, Karol Kaliský
Editing: Klaus Müller, Branislav Gotthardt
Music: Steffen Kaltschmid
Narrator: Stefan Kaminski
Editor: Ralf Quibeldey (NDR), Ralf Fronz (MDR), Andrea Gastgeb (Terra Mater)
Producer: Tom Synnatzschke (Doclights GmbH / NDR Naturfilm)
Website URL: www.doclights.de