On a journey across the world Natasha Illum Berg, a Swedish writer, conservationist and ethical buffalo hunter, retraces the footsteps of Bengt Berg, the pioneering wildlife photographer, writer, explorer and filmmaker – a visionary who took great risks for animals a century ago – a grandfather she never met.
From Sweden, to Africa, India and the Himalayas, Natasha follows his most famous expeditions seeking answers about man’s place in nature today. Bengt Berg’s original writings, and archives of wildlife film footage & photos are revealed, (some footage unseen for decades) and a lens into the past is opened and together a parallel adventure story takes place – between grandfather and granddaughter – a century apart.
Produced by Original Godal Productions; Skypaths is a four-part mini documentary series directed by award-winning filmmaker Kire Godal following Natasha Illum Berg. Both Kire and Natasha have lived and worked in conservation in Africa for over twenty years.
Natasha grew up on her family’s wildlife estate Eriksberg in Sweden, now one of Northern Europe’s largest protected wildlife reserves under UNESCO, started by her illustrious naturalist, writer, filmmaker, grandfather Bengt Berg – who in his lifetime saved 4 species of birds, made natural history discoveries, wrote dozens of nature books and was the first to film and photograph many wildlife species around the world.
Natasha follows four of his most important exploratory expeditions; from common cranes leaving Sweden and arriving to their southern most migration point in Africa, to shoebills in remote African swamps, and bearded vultures in the Himalayas – the sky paths all lead to the ground, where African elephant, and Indian rhino struggle for survival.
Told from Natasha’s, and her grandfather Bengt Berg’s, unique & powerful perspectives – each episode asks thought provoking questions, reveals conservation insights, explores poetic remote locations and exotic wildlife under the invisible net of bird sky-paths that encircle our globe.
