Surreal Nature Films
10 Episodes
In celebration of Earth Day, be awed by the astounding strangeness and diversity of nature in all its bizarre and beautiful glory. From atomic-age science-fiction disaster films about irradiated ants (THEM!, PHASE IV) to the sublime stranger-than-fiction scientific studies of biologist Jean Painlevé and an extraordinary up-close encounter with the insect universe (MICROCOSMOS), these eye-opening alternate perspectives on our very own planet remind us of the tantalizing mysteries of the natural world.
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49:12Episode 1Cane Toads: An Unnatural History
Episode 1
Directed by Mark Lewis • 1988 • Australia
Starring Tip Byrne, Glen Ingram, H. W. KerrMark Lewis takes the nature documentary into new realms of the humorous, surreal, and downright bizarre with this stranger-than-fiction tale of the ultimate environmental self-own. The cane toad—Bufo marinus, a...
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1:15:53Episode 2Microcosmos
Episode 2
Directed by Claude Nuridsany and Marie Pérennou • 1996 • France
Starring Jacques Perrin, Kristin Scott ThomasExperience the strange, beautiful, surreal world of insects as never before in this singular, artful nature documentary, which employs specially created cameras and lenses—developed over...
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54:35Episode 3The Natural History of the Chicken
Episode 3
Directed by Mark Lewis • 2000 • United States
While most know chicken as a dinner-plate staple, few pause to consider this bird’s many virtues. In this fascinating and gently comic documentary, director Mark Lewis delves into the under-recognized complexities of this seemingly simple animal. Thr...
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14:40Episode 4The Sea Horse
Episode 4
Directed by Jean Painlevé • 1933 • France
Jean Painlevé’s classic underwater short THE SEA HORSE uses dreamlike imagery to detail the lives of the titular upright-swimming creatures.
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09:09Episode 5The Vampire
Episode 5
Directed by Jean Painlevé • 1945 • France
Jean Painlevé’s short THE VAMPIRE draws the connection between the movie monsters of the same name and the South American vampire bat. The animal’s gruesome feeding habits are on full display.
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14:32Episode 6How Some Jellyfish Are Born
Episode 6
Directed by Jean Painlevé • 1960 • France
Through a combination of underwater, time-lapse, and microscopic photography, Jean Painlevé creates a beautiful study of the reproduction cycle of jellyfish.
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14:24Episode 7The Love Life of the Octopus
Episode 7
Directed by Jean Painlevé • 1967 • France
The mating rituals and reproductive cycle of the octopus are the subject of this short documentary by Jean Painlevé.
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01:51Episode 8GREEN PORNO: Mantis
Episode 8
Directed by Isabella Rossellini • 2008 • United States
Starring Isabella RosselliniAnchovy orgies, sadomasochistic snails, and hermaphrodite worms—Isabella Rossellini reveals the wacky, kinky, confounding mating rituals of insects and marine life in this blissfully bonkers, utterly singular sho...
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02:18Episode 9GREEN PORNO: Anchovy
Episode 9
Directed by Isabella Rossellini • 2009 • United States
Starring Isabella RosselliniAnchovy orgies, sadomasochistic snails, and hermaphrodite worms—Isabella Rossellini reveals the wacky, kinky, confounding mating rituals of insects and marine life in this blissfully bonkers, utterly singular sho...
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02:18Episode 10SEDUCE ME: Seahorse
Episode 10
Directed by Isabella Rossellini • 2010 • United States
Starring Isabella RosselliniIsabella Rossellini’s follow-up to her one-of-a-kind GREEN PORNO delves further into the surprising, eccentric mating rituals of the animal, marine, and insect worlds. From the anything-goes free love practiced b...