“Dangerously Close – When Bears Kill” starts on Sky

In April 2023, a 26-year-old jogger was killed by a bear in Trentino – 25 years after the animals were reintroduced to the northern Italian region.

While bears are subsequently sighted in Germany and fear is growing, the dispute is escalating in Trentino: animal rights activists want to prevent the shooting of problem bears at all costs, while most people on the ground would prefer to undo the reintroduction.

Thanks to a previously unique access to the 20-member special unit of the forest guard that looks after the bear population in Trentino, director and Grimme Prize winner Andreas Pichler ("The Milk System") follows the trail of the impressive animal in the Sky Original documentary "Dangerously Close - When Bears Kill" in impressive nature shots and paints a differentiated picture of the coexistence of humans and bears.

At the same time, he documents the emotionally escalating debate between the local population, animal rights activists and politicians about the proper way to deal with animals, which leads to the question: Who owns nature?

“Dangerously Close – When Bears Kill”, a film by Beetz Brothers Film Production and Miramonte Film in co-production with BR, SWR and Sky, starts the day after tomorrow on May 2nd exclusively on Sky and the streaming service Wow and can be seen from June 4th in the ARD Mediathek and on June 10th at 23.35 p.m. on Das Erste.

The film will also celebrate its cinema premiere at the Dok.fest Munich on May 2, 2024.

That's what it's about

When 5-year-old jogger Andrea Papi was attacked and killed by a bear in Trentino, northern Italy, not far from Lake Garda, on April 2023, 26, the news went around the world. It was the first such accident in recent history in the Alpine region - almost exactly 25 years after the bear was resettled in Andrea Papi's homeland as part of one of the largest rewilding projects in Europe.

What started out as a small number of animals has now grown to over 100 bears, roaming the mountain forests of Trentino and invading human habitats. Nowhere else in the world do humans live so closely with bears. The problems seem to have been foreseeable for some time. 'JJ4', the bear that Andrea Papi killed, was already conspicuous before, just like her mother a few years ago.

And her brother, "Problem Bear Bruno", caused a stir in the Bavarian Alps in 2006 when he was the first bear to return to German soil in over 100 years. So was it only a matter of time before a death occurred? Who is responsible for this development?

While the fear of bears is spreading more and more - even in Germany, where bears will again be sighted and sheep and cattle killed in spring 2023 - the dispute is escalating in Trentino. Some see the foresters as having a duty to regulate the handling of the bears through their wildlife management - in problem cases like JJ4, even by killing them if necessary.

The others are trying to prevent this by any means possible and are exerting influence by bringing about judicial decisions against bear killings. In between are a divided population and politicians who are either absent or trying to take advantage of the deadlock.

Background

Director Andreas Pichler was the first filmmaker ever to gain access to the forest guard's special team, which plays a key role in the conflict.

Over a period of almost three years, he accompanied the team for “Dangerously Close – When Bears Kill” in their responsible task.

Not only did he get very close to the bears, but he also documented the heated debate between animal rights activists, the population and politicians.

“Dangerously Close – When Bears Kill” is a production by Beetz Brothers Film Production and Miramonte Film in co-production with BR, SWR and Sky.

The film was directed by Andreas Pichler and the director of photography is Daniel Mazza.

PR Agent / © Photo: Zdeněk Macháček, Unsplash