Germany 2025 – 89 min – Director: Jens Westphalen & Thoralf Grospitz

Imagine sitting high up in a jungle tree and looking an orangutan mother straight in the eye. And then her child. And follow the two of them through the jungle of Borneo. Sati and Huyan show that the old distinction between rational humans and instinct-driven animals is highly questionable: the apes act with foresight, use tools and feel and think. We really liked the fact that filmmaker Jens Westphalen does not limit himself to the idyll of the rainforest in ‘Orangutans - The Unknown Great Apes’. His drone footage also shows how we consumers in the rich north are contributing to the destruction of Borneo's diverse forests. Palm oil plantations are destroying the orangutans' habitat, many of them end up in rescue centres and are later released back into the wild. They are no longer afraid of humans and take bananas from people's houses. How can wild animals and humans live together in the future? Jens Westphalen and Thoralf Grospitz show a team of conservationists building wildlife corridors - small glimmers of hope in the hostile Anthropocene.