Orsi nel Brenta

(Bears in the Brenta)
by Josef Schwellensattl
45’, Germany, 2001

In the woods on the slopes of the Brenta Dolomites live the last exemplars in the Alps of brown bears. Up until 2000, their numbers were dramatically reduced. In 2001, only fi ve remained. Fabio Osti, out of passion and as a profession, was the greatest brown bear expert in the Trentino region. He followed their movements, recognized their tracks, and knew where the lairs where they spent the long winters in hibernation were located. The fi lm follows Osti during a year of work in the forests and introduces us to the last bear hunter, old Nene.

Josef Schwellensattl
Josef Schwellensattl was born in the Val d’Ultimo in 1954. After a diploma from the Scuola d’Arte in Ortisei, he moved to Munich where he studied at the Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen. Since 1981 he has worked as writer and director for Bayerisches Fernsehen.