• PROGRAMME
• SYNOPSES
• JURY
• AWARDS
• CALL FOR ENTRIES

ALIENS OF THE AMAZON. SECRET ALLIANCE

1. Author: Patrick Landmann, Thierry Berrod, Quincy Russell, Yves Paccalet
2. Director: Quincy Russell
3. Scientific Advisor: Dr. Stuart McKamey, Dr. Rex Cocroft
4. Editor: Quincy Russell
5. Photography: Quincy Russell
6. Music: Gilbert Grilli, Eric Cadesky, Nick Dyer
7. Sound: Thomas Guytard
8. Producer: Thierry Berrod
9. Production: Mona Lisa Production/ARTE France/Ushuaïa TV/RTBF/CBC Canada/Breakthrough Films & Television/Discovery Science USA
10. France
11. 2009 min.
12. 49

The Membracide insect family is roughly unknown to us. However, these neotropical treehoppers are probably the most astonishing creatures ever concocted by Nature! Some people view them as nothing more than miniature aliens; others consider them to be true masterpieces of biodiversity. In either case, with their weird and wonderful shapes, they are a source of bewilderment for the scientific community.
Be it a whim of Nature or an extreme case of mimicry, with their impressive forehead protrusions, they look like living sculptures. They resemble something straight out of a Sci-Fi movie, and yet they are well and truly real - tactile inhabitants of the treetops and the various strata of the tropical rainforest.
Because these insects are so incredibly rare and hard to find, they have never been studied, photographed or filmed - that is, up until now. In the past, in-the-field observations have revealed certain aspects of their behaviour but there is no trace of any former in-depth research into these creatures.
The Aliens of the Amazon team (the Festival presents Secret Alliance, the second episode) has sought out these mysterious insects, accomplishing the first ever scientific documentary dedicated to them. Equipped with state-of-the-art imagery gear, a group of researchers embarking on an expedition in Ecuador has revealed the infinitely strange, observed the hitherto unseen, listened to the most outlandish of sounds and elucidated previously-unexplained entomological mysteries.