Wild Nairobi

Wild Nairobi -2With a population of around 3 million, Nairobi is one of the largest cities in Africa. However the metropolis is surrounded by wilderness which extends into the city itself. Just a few metres from the airport lies the Nairobi National Park, with its vast savannah and mysterious inhabitants. Beside the motorway, lions, hyenas, giraffes and rhinoceros wander through grassland, separated only by a wire fence, while in the city centre hundreds of marabous breed in the tree lined streets. Hordes of apes terrorise people walking in the city’s parks.
This is a journey of discovery through a city full of contradictions and teeming with nature, technology and wildness, in which humans and animals live together as – sometimes unwilling – neighbours. 50 Minutes, written and directed by Udo Maurer and Manfred Christ. Cosmos Factory for ORF and FreMantle Media in association with ORF Enterprise.


The Wildlife Orphanage: Season One

AnnikaThe series tells the stories of a farm in Namibia that takes in abandoned wild animals. Harnas is run by the van der Merwe family, supported by volunteers from all over the world who come here to see exotic animals and experience the African wilderness.

The Harnas Wildlife Foundation is a non-profit organisation financed by donations. The animals the foundation cares for are often injured or have been abused, and the farm either houses them permanently or prepares them gradually for a return to the wild.

Docusoap with 40 episodes of 48 minutes each for SWR/ARD. In cooperation with EIKON Südwest, Stuttgart.


EU Regional Cooperation Management: Establishing Relationships, Realising Projects

RECOMWhat do the current robotics world champion, an innovative organic winemaker and Europe’s leading poultry experts have in common? They have all crossed borders – literally: they work with Czech, Slovak, Hungarian and Austrian partners as part of a project funded by the European Union.

Language barriers, cultural concerns and administrative hurdles are often barriers to working with neighbouring countries within an EU project framework. The 16-minute film (in three languages: German, Hungarian, Slovak) goes behind the scenes: Who are the people organising the project? What experiences have they had with their foreign partners? What are the benefits of crossing borders? Director: Manfred Christ, camera operator: Franz Schrems. Graphics and editing: Jörg Achatz. Commissioned by Vienna’s municipal Department for EU Strategy and Economic Development.


Introductory Film of the Neusiedlersee-Seewinkel National Park

npvideoThe film was produced for the information centre at the edge of Lake Neusiedl for the visitors of the National Park. Following a culinary introduction that answers the question, “Where are we actually?”, the film describes the various characteristics that define the Neusiedlersee-Seewinkel National Park: the vast expanse of flat countryside, the humidity, the sky, the sun and the diversity of life as a result of its location between the Alps and the Pannonian Basin.

Writer and director: Manfred Christ, Camera: Klaus Achter, Sound: Roland Mittermüller, Edit: Adi Wallisch, National Park Co-ordination: Alois Lang