Visual treat for nature lovers

Penguins: Spy in the Huddle is among the nature films screened at the ongoing Earthland Wildscreen Film Festival.

The highlights include Penguins: Spy in the Huddle; Hidden Kingdoms under Open Skies; Leopards: 21st Century Cats; and Dolphins－Spy in the Pod.

Except for Astonish Me and Dragonfly, which are short films that are 7 and 15 minutes long, respectively, the remaining 10 are each about an hour long.

David Attenborough, the famous British broadcaster and naturalist, has two films in the list－Rise of Animals: From the Seas to the Skies and Natural History Museum Alive.

Rise of Animals shows Attenborough embarking on an epic 500-million-year trek to trace the rise of vertebrates, while Natural History uses computer-generated imagery to bring to life the skeletons of animals－now extinct－from the museum in London.

While many viewers may still think making wildlife films is about cameramen getting as close as possible to the animals, they will be surprised to learn that the British have changed their techniques.

In the 2013 documentary Penguins: Spy in the Huddle, nearly 50 spycams, disguised as realistic life-size penguins, eggs and rocks, were deployed to infiltrate the birds' colonies to record rarely seen moments like courtship and fights with predators.

"Personally, I think the United Kingdom is the originator of nature photography and museology," says Xi.