A fox runs energetically over a sandy beach near the Guadalquivir, its tail raised high. The calm blue sea with gentle waves contrasts against the bright sand, while sparse grass and small plants peek through in the foreground.
Two colorful birds with vibrant green, yellow, and orange plumage sit closely together on a branch overlooking the serene Guadalquivir River. Their heads are turned slightly towards each other against a blurred natural background.
A golden eagle perched on a rocky surface near the Guadalquivir, gazes to the side. Its brown feathers and sharp beak stand out against a blurred green and gray natural backdrop, conveying a sense of alertness and grace.

Guadalquivir – The great River

Nature & Wildlife·1 x 53 min·Completed

Join a lone fox on a gripping journey along the Guadalquivir River, discovering wildlife and survival in Europe's greatest wildlife paradise.

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Genre
Nature & Wildlife
Duration
1 × 53 min
Definition
HD
Audio
5.1
Status
Completed
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Synopsis

What Arab Emirs once, with pride, called Wadi al Kabir, the Great River, is today known as the Guadalquivir. It flows for six hundred and fifty kilometers before arriving at its union with the Atlantic Ocean in the salt marshes of Doñana, the greatest European paradise of wildlife.

From the high snowed mountain tops of Cazorla to the sands of the National Park of Doñana, great stories have been set in these areas – and this is yet another one of them.

The main character of this film is the fox – it can be carnivorous, vegetarian or a scavenger. It lives alone or with others, has the stealth of a cat and the slyness of a wolf. Furthermore, it has no respect for the rules of the field, a real survivor as well as the triumph of the natural economy, and it meets all the requirements to be the main character of our trip along the great river.

Our fox is the sole survivor of a troop which had all been killed by a poisoned carcass. After witnessing its companions die, instinct told the fox it must leave, that its territory was not safe anymore.

Not only our fox, following the riverbanks heading south to a safer surrounding, but also the viewer, discovers many more animals along the way: a golden eagle, king of the mountain, which considers foxes as part of its regular diet; the spider crab, camouflaged inside a flower, relentlessly hunting insects; rats, frogs and even the genet, having been introduced from Northern Africa to Europe, are lining the way.

The river is rich with dragonflies and poses many mysteries: sturgeons, prehistoric giants, used to live in it – and suddenly disappeared. A similar fate could await the Spanish toothcarp, which is already under high risk of becoming extinct.

The Doñana salt marshes are alive with birds. As the black terns feed their chicks, glossy ibises, purple swamphens, black-winged stilts and spoonbills also fill this magical space in which flamingos take the main spot. Close to the salt marsh, hiding in the surrounding vegetation, hides the most endangered feline in the world – and the fox’s worst enemy: the Iberian lynx.

Together with the fox we will embark on a journey from the snow-covered summits of Cazorla to the seashore, where the Guadalquivir flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

Team

Written by Fernando López-Mirones
Produced and directed by Joaquín Gutierrez Acha
Executive producer Sabine Holzer
Production companies A Terra Mater Factual Studios / Wanda Vision co-production

Awards & Recognitions

Albert, France Festival International du Film Animalier d'Albert Nomination 2015
Bois-de-Villers, Belgium Namur Nature Festival Nomination 2015
Sondrio, Italy Sondrio Festival Town of Sondrio/Stelvio National Park/Lombardy Region Award 2014
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