Alaska and the Wilds Beyond

Alaska: Spirit of the Wild

Alaska... Here, in this vast and spectacularly beautiful land teeming with abundant wildlife, discover the "Spirit of the Wild." Experience it in the explosive calving of glaciers, the celestial fires of the Aurora Borealis. Witness it in the thundering stampede of caribou, the beauty of the polar bear and the stealthful, deadly hunt of the wolf pack.

Over Alaska

Come fly with us in OVER ALASKA as we take off on a breathtaking tour of our 49th state. Soar over Mt. McKinley and through the craggy crevasses of electric blue glaciers. Follow the Iditarod and kayakers as they navigate past icebergs. Then touch down to Earth and get as close to bears, whales and wildlife as humanly possible.

First Descent

First Descent is a 2005 documentary film about snowboarding and its beginning in the 1980s. The snowboarders featured in this movie (Shawn Farmer, Nick Perata, Terje Haakonsen, Hannah Teter and Shaun White with guest appearances from Travis Rice) represent three generations of snowboarders and the progress this young sport has made over the past two decades. Most of the movie was shot in Alaska.

Bigfoot: Man or Beast?

People go and search for the legendary Bigfoot creature.

Report from the Aleutians

A documentary propaganda film produced by the U.S. Army Signal Corps about the Aleutian Islands Campaign during World War II. The film opens with a map showing the strategic importance of the island, and the thrust of the 1942 Japanese offensive into Midway and Dutch Harbor. Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Alaska's Silent Summer

In 2019, 1.2 million people stepped off a cruise ship into the small, south-east Alaskan town of Ketchikan. The next year, in 2020, zero did. After decades of diligent work building a sleepy fishing, mining, and logging town into one of the most sought after cruise destinations in the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed Ketchikan into an empty shell—lined with restaurants, shops, and attractions for the visitors who no longer come. Now, the town must find a way to survive without its key economy until the day arrives when cruise visitors once again pour into its docks.

The Strait Guys

THE STRAIT GUYS follows Czech-born mining engineer, George, and his fast-talking protégé, Scott, along the proposed route of the InterContinental Railway through Alaska, to the Bering Strait and onward to Russia. The “Strait Guys” endeavor to convince international governments, corporations, and indigenous tribes to green-light their $100 billion railway project, which would provide ground-based infrastructure across the continents, relieve overcrowded Pacific ports, improve global supply chains, and ease tensions between the superpowers. The US and Russia have been successfully collaborating in space for decades. Now the Strait Guys are out to prove it is also possible down here on earth.

Children of the Arctic

Children of the Arctic is a portrait of five Native Alaskan teenagers growing up in Barrow - the northernmost community in the United States. As their climate and culture undergo profound changes, they strive to balance being modern American kids and the inheritors of an endangered way of life.

Alaska, au pays des glaciers

Grizzly Man

Werner Herzog's documentary film about the "Grizzly Man" Timothy Treadwell and what the thirteen summers in a National Park in Alaska were like in one man's attempt to protect the grizzly bears. The film is full of unique images and a look into the spirit of a man who sacrificed himself for nature.

Alaskan Sled Dog

The story of an Eskimo father and son who train and groom a sled dog team. When the father is lost on an ice floe, the son takes the unproven team on the search, and succeeds in finding his father.

Giant Bears of Kodiak Island

Even in a spot as remote and wild as Alaska's Kodiak Island, the struggle between man and nature continues. Wildlife filmmaker Wolfgang Bayer presents this tug-of-war from both the human and bear perspective. Taking viewers inside a Kodiak bear's den and providing an inside glimpse of the great carnivore's daily life, Bayer reveals the bears' fight for survival in the face of a shrinking habitat and often tragic encounters with humans.

Same Difference

Freeride, Freestyle and Alpine racing united! Legs of Steel presents the multi-discipline ski film 'Same Difference’. True to the credo –‘a film about skiers’, this documentary will provides a one-of-a-kind view into skiing’s diversity. Follow Alpine race legend Felix Neureuther through a testing competitive season full of ultimate highs and lows. Take a ride with Fabian Lentsch, Bene Mayr & Sven Kueenle as they venture to the nerve centre of freeride skiing in Alaska, and watch on with anticipation as Freestyler Paddy Graham and his gang attempt to redefine gravity with the biggest jump ever attempted. The start gates and slopes are different and the rewards may seem wildly contrasting, but it’s all just skiing in the end.

Return to the Wild: The Chris McCandless Story

Twenty years ago, a young American hiker named Chris McCandless, the accomplished son of successful middle class parents, was found dead in an abandoned bus in the Alaskan wilderness and became the subject of the best-selling book and movie “Into the Wild.” Now, PBS retraces Chris McCandless’ steps to try to piece together why he severed all ties with his past, burnt or gave away all his money, changed his name and headed into the Denali Wilderness. McCandless' own letters, released for the first time, as well as new and surprising interviews, probe the mystery that still lies at the heart of a story that has become part of the American literary canon and compels so many to this day.

Moonflower

Take a front seat ride and experience what it takes to make a first ascent on one of the world's biggest alpine faces in 2011. The film joins top British alpinists Jon Bracey and Matt Helliker as they honor their late friend Jules Cartwright by following his original vision of making a stunning and formidable new line on Mt Hunter's incredible north buttress; The Moonflower. Climbing the steepest and coldest section of the buttress; marvel at the dogged determination of the world class climbers as they approach exhaustion in an effort to complete the line before the increasingly freezing conditions irrevocably turn against them. The fruits of their efforts result in 'The Cartwright Connection' Ca 6000ft, Alaskan grade 6 (M6, AI6, 5.8, A2).

The Kiamichi Beast Expedition

The expedition for the Kiamichi beast up into the mountains was a tedious journey. For over 200 years the Kiamichi beast has roamed Arkansas, the Indians say he would raid the camp and steal the children. Now adays the locals are afraid to enter the woods at night. The howl’s coming from the woods are enough to make even a big man shake

This Mountain Life

A daughter and her 60-year-old mother embark on a 6 month, 2,300-kilometre ski trek through British Columbia’s rugged terrain.

Soaring Over America

Created from public television's popular Over series, this is a tour unlike any other! Fly above landscapes and landmarks in Alaska; the Pacific Northwest; California; the Southwest; Chicago; New York City; Washington, D.C.; and everywhere in between.

The Wild

Newly into addiction recovery, an urgent threat emerges to spur filmmaker, Mark Titus back to the Alaskan wilderness - where the people of Bristol Bay and the world's last intact wild salmon runs face devastation if a massive copper mine is constructed.