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2023

The return of the Osprey

The Osprey is a migratory bird of prey that lives today in the northern regions of Europe. Wendy and Denis, passionate about ornithology, embark on an extraordinary adventure: to reintroduce the Osprey in Switzerland a century after the extinction of the species in our country.


TRAILER|   Documentary - 52 min

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With its splendid brown and white coat and bright yellow eyes, the Osprey is the only bird of prey in the world to feed exclusively on fish. This migratory bird has long populated the shores of lakes and large rivers throughout central Europe to breed in the summer.

However, the species has gradually retreated to areas further north in Europe, away from the persecution caused by human expansion. In Switzerland, logging and industrial development contributed to its disappearance from our country a century ago.

A sad fate that did not escape the vigilance of a couple of passionate ornithologist, Wendy and Denis. To remedy this situation, they decided to embark on an ambitious project to reintroduce the Osprey to Switzerland.

To do this, they called on Roy Dennis, a Scotsman considered the greatest European specialist of the Osprey, who taught them the technique of “translocation”, the only reliable method to reinstall a breeding population. The principle is to make the birds believe that they were born on the reintroduction site.





Team



Stephan RYTZ
Director and Producer


Loïc Oswald
Camera operator and Producer


Franck Guillemenot
Editing


Nicolas BINGGELI
Sound mixer and Sound operator


Benoît FRECH
Sound operator


Igor Marlot
Sound operator


Gabin Ferra
Music composer


Lucien KOLLY
Photographer


Naoki LEMBEZAT
Co-writer


Stéphanie Ganière
Graphic designer and Illustrator


  • Film Sheet
  • Production
  • Shooting
  • Postproduction
Original version
English and French

Subtitles
English, French, and Spanish

Format
4K and Color

Genre and duration
Documentary
52 min

Year
2023

Country
Switzerland

Produced by
Stephan Rytz & Loïc Oswald

Production
ORCA Production

Co-production
RTS

Distribution
OFF the Fence B.V.

With the support of
CinéForom
Fonds de production télévisuelle
Fondation Hélène et Victor Barbour
Banque Alternative Suisse

Directed by
Stephan Rytz

Written by
Stephan Rytz & Naoki Lembezat

Camera operator
Loïc Oswald

Drone
Loïc Oswald

Sound operator
Nicolas Binggeli, Benoît Frech & Igor Marlot

Editor
Stephan Rytz

Animation
Loïc Oswald

Credits
Loïc Oswald

Sound editor
Nicolas Binggeli & Stephan Rytz

Sound mixing
Nicolas Binggeli

Music composer
Gabin Ferra

Color grading
Loïc Oswald

Graphic design
Stéphanie Ganière