Category: Discovery Channel

Man, Cheetah, Wild

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MAN, CHEETAH, WILD follows the true story of one extraordinary cheetah family, and the remarkable man who walked among them for a year and a half. A one-time game ranger with experience in the military, Kim Wolhuter is an Emmy Award-winning wildlife filmmaker who has an incredibly unique gift – the very special ability to befriend and connect with the animals of his native homeland, Zimbabwe. He connects with wild predators and dangerous animals in unbelievably amazing ways – living with them, drinking where they do, finding food on the move and running alongside them. Premiering Monday, April 27 at 8:00 p.m. (2000 hrs) SIN/HK, MAN, CHEETAH, WILD is a two-hour special that documents Kim’s unbelievable relationship with a young family of five cheetahs and how these ruthless hunters learnt to trust and accept him as part of their family, allowing him an unparalleled and intimate access into their otherwise elusive and highly secretive world.

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Living in the heart of Southern Africa, Kim is a third generation bush ranger from a family who has lived and tangled with deadly predators for nearly a hundred years. Kim’s bush skills have gotten him up close and personal with many species, except for the mysterious cheetah – an animal that typically bolts upon sight. In the Malilangwe Game Reserve – 200 square miles of raw beauty that is home to a vast array of wildlife – in Southern Zimbabwe, Kim attempted to locate a female cheetah that he had previously worked and established a relationship with. Following one mysterious feline in 200 square miles proved to be challenging so Kim had a vet implant a tracking device in its belly. Six months on, Kim was unsure if the cheetah was alive having not seen her for that long. When he eventually managed to track her, he was delighted to find that she was mothering a litter of five new cubs.

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Despite Kim’s gift of reading animals, there is always the possibility that one wrong move could cost him his life, especially in this instance where mother cheetahs are notoriously protective of their young and would do all it takes to protect their young. Miraculously, this cheetah sensed no threat from Kim and even allowed him an unrestricted and extremely rare opportunity to live and run amongst the family for 18 months, during which he was also able to document their daily lives and the upbringing of one of the rarest wild cats on the planet. The breathtaking and awe-inspiring footage is unlike any other as Kim does not merely sit in a truck to film the family; he wins their trust and runs alongside them barefoot, bringing viewers much closer into the covert world of cheetahs than anyone ever thought possible.

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FLIGHT 370: THE MISSING LINKS – Investigates The Disapperance OF MH370

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Discovery Channel presents a special one-hour documentary – FLIGHT 370: THE MISSING LINKS – which gathers the foremost thinkers in aviation and security to explore key questions surrounding the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. FLIGHT 370: THE MISSING LINKS will air in more than 220 countries and territories worldwide on Discovery Channel. In Southeast Asia, FLIGHT 370: THE MISSING LINKS will air first and exclusive on Discovery Channel on Wednesday, April 16 at 9:00pm (2100hrs) SIN/HK. There will be additional airings on Saturday, April 19 at 2:00pm (1400hrs), 6:00pm (1800hrs) and 10:00pm (2200hrs) and Sunday, April 20 at 3:00pm (1500hrs), 7:00pm (1900hrs) and 11:00pm (2300hrs).

The mystery of flight MH370 has garnered worldwide attention and generated widespread speculation about how the events unfolded. FLIGHT 370: THE MISSING LINKS looks to industry experts to account for just how it is possible to lose track of an airliner – analysing evidence, deliberating the global frailties of aviation and divulging potential solutions to prevent the disappearance of an aircraft from ever happening again.

In an age when we can use apps to locate handheld devices, the special also looks at how a state-of-the-art airliner and its 239 passengers and crew can simply vanish. Since flight MH370 went off the grid on 8 March 2014, questions about flight safety have once again taken centre stage. In an attempt to answer some of these questions, FLIGHT 370: THE MISSING LINKS addresses seven missing links: airport security, air traffic control, on-board communication systems, mechanical failure, tracking – both radar and satellite, international cooperation and the black box.

 

Last Chance To Slurp Up A Bowl Of Super Japan!

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The land of the rising sun is an amazing convergence of old and new; a place where ancient traditions, culture and history are well-preserved but in harmony with ever-evolving cultural progressions and state-of-the-art technologies. SUPER JAPAN – five documentaries by the winners of Discovery Channel’s First Time Filmmakers (FTFM) Japan – celebrates the evolvement of Japan into the global powerhouse it is today.

Premiere works of passionate first time international film producers, these films document the country’s progressions, obsessions and pays tribute to some of the things they do best. The last two episodes of SUPER JAPAN – “Sea Whisperers” and “POPcorn Dreams” – air back-to-back on Wednesday, 19 March, from 7:00 p.m. (1900 hrs) SIN/HK.

The “Sea Whisperers” episode dives into the country’s 5,000 year old ancient tradition that has defied the tide of time – the legendary free-diving Ama or ‘sea woman’ who make a living by diving deep in the coastal waters of Japan to harvest abalone and turban shells. The key to their culture is their identity as female free-divers who understand the need to live in harmony with nature if future generations are to continue their way of life. This means they refuse to use scuba tanks as that would make it too easy to over harvest the abalone and turban shells which they depend on a living for. With environmental changes threatening their livelihoods and most Ama divers now aged over 65 years old, their future, as free-diving champion Ai Futaki discovers, is far from secure.

To cap off the five-part series, SUPER JAPAN takes viewers inside the quintessential Japanese pop (J-POP) music scene to document a burgeoning phenomenon – J-POP girl group AKB48 from Akihabara, Tokyo. Unlike regular pop groups who occasionally put up performances and are seen mostly on television, AKB48 – who holds the Guinness World Record for the Largest Pop Group – was founded and produced by Yasushi Akimoto based on the “idols you can meet” concept. The group is split into several teams and take turns to perform on a daily basis at their very own AKB48 Theatre where fans would be able to catch them live. SUPER JAPAN tracks the global expansion of AKB48 and examines its first overseas venture, sister group, JKT48 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Follow Melody Nurramdhani Laksani, a local JKT48 member as she hones her performing skills to become a pop idol sensation in Indonesia and Haruka Nakagawa, a Japanese girl who transferred from AKB48 to JKT48 to help the Indonesian girls replicate AKB48 songs and dance moves – and whose character and efforts to learn the local language is attracting a growing fan base. Can a pop group concept as unique and radical AKB48 be successfully exported and duplicated in countries with starkly different cultures?

FTFM Japan – a partnership between Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Japan (MIC) – is a project designed to help develop the documentary storytelling skills of Japanese filmmakers while providing them a platform for their talent and bring the globe on a journey that reveals what makes contemporary Japan tick.

Episode Guide
Episode 4: Sea Whisperers (Ama Divers – JCTV)
Director: Masashi “Sho” Matsuhashi, Japan Cable Television Ltd
It is thought the culture of Japan’s female free-divers, or Ama, goes back 5,000 years. The key to their culture is their identity as women free-divers who understand the need to live in harmony with nature if future generations are to continue their way of life. This means they refuse to use scuba tanks because that would make it too easy to over harvest the abalone and turban shells which they depend on for a living. With environmental changes threatening their livelihoods and most Ama now more than 65 years old, their future, as free-diving champion Ai Futaki discovers, is far from secure.

Episode 5: POPcorn Dreams (AK48 – TV Asahi)
Director: Naoto Ueda, TV Asahi
This episode showcases the global expansion of the J-POP idol group, AKB48 from Akihabara, Tokyo, and examines its first overseas venture, sister group, JKT48 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Follow Melody Nurramdhani Laksani, a local JKT48 member as she hones her performing skills to become a pop idol sensation in Indonesia and Haruka Nakagawa, a Japanese girl who transferred from AKB48 to JKT48 to help the Indonesian girls replicate the AKB songs and dance moves – and whose character and efforts to learn the local language is attracting a growing fan base. Also featuring Yasushi Akimoto, the producer who invented the AKB formula, this episode offers a unique insight into Japan’s pop idol culture.