Productions
Erebus has filmed across the world, from extensive work in Italy through to the Polar regions, South America and the Middle East, covering wildlife, nature, history and culture – and specialising in underwater filmmaking. The following examples of our productions have all been broadcast on RAI, who Erebus has worked with since 2008.
The Mountain Made of Chalk
BOLOGNA, ITALY | 2023 | NATURAL HISTORY | 1 X 40’
A small mountain range close to Bologna is the only range in Europe made almost exclusively of chalk. Since before the Romans people have been coming here to mine this valuable material. The Vena del Gesso Romagnola cuts across Italy, creating starkly different climates on either side, where cool woods on the northern flank contrast with the more arid southern side, caused by the chalk banks reflecting the sun. Underground, this environment really comes to life, in an incredible world of caves carved out by water. Today they are home to colonies of thousands of bats. A short distance south, another formation plays home to the Onferno caves, where seven different species of bats co-exist, soaring across the cavernous spaces.
Winter Tales in the Dolomites
DOLOMITES, ITALY | 2022 | NATURAL HISTORY | 1 X 35’
As the mountains of the Dolomites in northern Italy shift from autumn to winter, its animals brace themselves for the hardships of the season of frost. Temperatures drop drastically, with vegetation fading and the highest peaks turning white. The snow falls abundantly here in Val di Fiemme, creating a surreal glacial environment which asks its wildlife to live at their limits. The changing seasons and topography act as bookends to this documentary, which follows deer, Alpine chamois, sheep and moles as they adapt to a snow-covered world.
Little Antarctic Poetry
TERRA NOVA BAY & PLATEAU, ANTARCTICA | 2021 | NATURAL HISTORY | 1 X 40’
As the Ice Continent emerges from a long and dark polar winter, the calls of Weddell seals herald the arrival of spring light in Antarctica. Exploring some of the lesser-documented and hard to reach parts of the continent, from Terra Nova Bay along the Ross Sea to the Antarctic Plateau, this documentary showcases new life in the harshest corner of the planet. Newborn Weddell seal pups sleep on thick ice, while then new generations of Emperor penguins and Adélie penguins prepare to face life as adults on the coldest, driest and most remote continent. Despite these conditions, Antarctica is home to life in all its extraordinary forms.
Lofoten’s Skrei
LOFOTEN ISLANDS, NORWAY | 2020 | CULTURE | 1 X 45’
Beyond the Arctic Circle, among the fjords of Norway’s Lofoten Islands, fishermen head out on boats in search of Arctic cod. For thousands of years the region has leaned on these fish, and now, more than ever, the remote archipelago’s economy is based on skrei and its transformation into stockfish. Thousands of cod weighing more than 50kg are left to dry every year on wooden racks so that nature’s wind, snow, salt and sun can transform them into the most valuable and sought-after stockfish in the world. Around 80% is bound for Italy.
The Claddagh Ring
GALWAY, IRELAND | 2020 | CULTURE | 1 X 30’
Two hands hold up and heart which is topped with a crown. The hands symbolise friendship, the crown loyalty and the heart love. These powerful symbols are forged into Claddagh rings, Irish signs of the deepest of feelings. Initially intended as engagement rings, they have now evolved into ways for men and women to indicate all manner of relationships depending on the way it is worn. Named after an ancient fishing village on Galway Bay on the west coast of Ireland, which is now part of the city of Galway, these rings represent a way of life and Gaelic tradition upheld not only in the locality, but also worldwide.
The Sailors’ Wives
PROCIDA, ITALY | 2019 | CULTURE | 1 X 40’
Procida is a jewel in the Gulf of Naples, so picturesque it has often made a natural set for films. But this island isn’t made up of only beautiful scenery. Procida and its people are children of the sea and will always turn towards its waters. The houses on its port are so brightly coloured precisely to allow men at sea, engaged in daily fishing, to spot them with a single glance, even through fierce storms, and always find their way back. As Procida’s women waited for their return in years gone by, they perfected the art of embroidery, which has been passed down the generations. But some, like Maria, are changing the status quo. She is a fisherwoman.
The Enchanted Knot
IRAN | 2015 | CULTURE | 1 X 52’
On the desert highlands of southern Iran, the spring sun is already burning the last pastures, making it time for the Qashqai to migrate towards the green high-altitude valleys of the Zagros Mountains. Seasonal transhumance is exhausting: men, women, children and the elderly walk all day, for tens of km, next to their sheep, and reassemble their tents at dusk. Meanwhile down in basements in Tehran, a dozen women sit together weaving tens of thousands of knots together to compose a handcrafted Persian carpet. Hours spent in front of huge looms add up to more than two years to complete some of the most precious pieces. In this documentary, true Iranian culture is uncovered from the vibrant alleys of the bazaar to the desert highlands, revealing centuries-old culture and traditions that survive to this day.
A Flock of … Penguins
AUSTRALIA | 2013 | NATURAL HISTORY | 1 X 30’
On an island off Australia’s southern coast, unusual shepherds tend to their unusual flock. Here, on Middle Island, a colony of little blue penguins had been decimated by the foxes which could reach the island at low tide, and was on the brink of disappearing. But the arrival of two large Italian dogs changed everything. The Maremma Sheepdogs are the proud guardians of a flock of little penguins, protecting them as they return from the sea every night and scale the island’s cliffs. Meet the volunteers from a protective project who tend to the dogs and monitor the penguins’ nests, and meet the devoted shepherds saving a new generation of seabirds. Two years after broadcast, the penguins’ story was turned into a feature film named after one of the protagonists, Oddball.
