Hidden Paradise

LIFE IN A SECRET LAKE

This film carries us off into a former gravel pit – a natural paradise that hardly anyone knows even though it’s right on our doorstep. For decades sand and gravel were extracted here. When the excavators finished their work an underwater landscape came into being of a beauty reminiscent of tropical reefs. Countless species of flora and fauna found a new home here. Whereas most disused gravel pits degenerate into garbage dumps or are overrun in summer by hordes of bathers, the quarry pond explored in the film is something very different. Over the years it was simply forgotten and left to its own devices. Through extraordinary wildlife footage, recorded in a period of over two years, the film provides insights into a world full of surprises and secrets.

TEAM
Written and directed by: Serge Dumont, Frank Nischk, Sarah Zierul, Thomas Weidenbach // Camera: Serge Dumont // Film editor: Isabelle Albert // Music: Thomas Wolter // Executive producers: Cédric Bonin, Pascaline Goeffroy, Oliver Gontram, Thomas Weidenbach // Commissioning editors: Gabriele Conze (for WDR), Christine Reisen (for Arte-France)

AWARDS
– “Best ecological film”, Green Screen – International Wildlife Film Festival, Eckernförde/Germany, 2013
– “Grand prix” and award for the best documentary (“prix meilleure documentaire”) of the “Festival international du film écologique” in Bourges/France 2013.
– First Prize in the category ‚Feature film‘ at the Film Festival Pelagos in Rome/Italiy 2014
– „Environment Protection Prize“ at the Film Festival ‚Sea Call‘ in St.Petersburg/Russia 2014
– „Méditerranea d’or“, main award at the „Festival international de l’image sous-marine et de l’aventure“ 2013, Antibes/France
– Grand Prix of the „International Festival of Diving Films High Tatras“ 2014, Slovakia
– Award of the „Parc Interrégional du Marais Poitevin“ at the „Festival du Film Ornithologique de Ménigoute“ 2014, France
– Grand Prix of the ‚PAF Tachov International Divers Festival’, Czech Republic, 2015

 

  • CLIENT ARTE, WDR
  • YEAR 2015
  • LENGTH 52 min (english version)
  • DISTRIBUTION Arte distribution