New Zealand is marked by its diverse landscapes, with a vast coastline, snow-capped mountains, jungles, and volcanoes. It is also one of the only places on the planet where plants and animals have lived without mammals nearby, which has had a great impact on their evolution. Curious examples of this wildlife include a species of bat that is forgetting how to fly and feeds on things on the ground, the heaviest insect in the world, carnivorous mollusks that feed on giant worms, a bird that defies the evolutionary logic of birds, a parrot so heavy it cannot fly, primitive sharks, and the tuatara, a rare reptile that has a third eye. These beauties and curiosities are the subject of the Wild New Zealand series .

The series uses modern filming equipment to portray the curious and varied wildlife of New Zealand, a territory made up of islands that have been isolated for 80 million years. The high-definition images capture exotic plants and animals that are considered remnants of prehistory.

Documentary series.

2018, 4k, 6 x 48'

Directed by Mark Strikson.

Executive production: Maurício Dias, Fernando Dias and Tatiana Battaglia.

Production: Fernando Dias, Maurício Dias, James Heyward and Christian Beetz.

Co-production Grifa Filmes and Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion (Germany).

In association with Making Movies (New Zealand) and ZDF/Arte (France/Germany).