Directed by Pierre Bressiant
Written by Marie Blanc-Hermeline, Pierre Bressiant, Arnaud Devroute and Maxence Lamoureux
Butterflies and moths. Graceful and beautiful, flitting and floating in our spring and summer skies. Their delicate choreographies of dazzling color are among the most amazing in the animal kingdom. But their beauty is not the only thing they can offer.
Through the lenses of powerful microscopes, scientists discover treasures of genius and unexpected secrets that can be adapted and applied to make our world better and more sustainable. This film is a journey into the nano-dimensions of butterflies, from high-tech labs around the world to the deepest forests and lavender fields, encountering amazing butterfly species.
From their wings to their antennae, the blue Morpho, the industrious Silk Moth, the astonishing and transparent Greta Oto, the resistant Heliconius, the enigmatic Monarch and the delicate white Cabbage Butterfly, inspire discoveries in many different fields such as energy efficiency, medicine and surgery or even in detecting toxics in order to save lives in terrorist chemical or gas attacks!
Researchers, biologists and geneticists, share with us their thrilling experiments, while experts – like Serge Berthier, a physicist and biomimicry expert, and Jessica Ware, an entomologist at the American Museum of Natural History – explain some of the butterflies’ incredible behaviors and capacities.
Butterflies and moths provide lessons about what’s possible on the very smallest scales. But they also warn us about what’s at stake if we fail to protect this endlessly inventive natural environment.
Produced by Serge Guez
in coproduction with NOVA for WGBH Boston
in co-production with Arte/ZDF, Ushuaïa TV
in association with TV7 Bordeaux, SVT
With the support of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Region, and Procirep-Angoa
in partnership with the CNC
International distribution : KWANZA
