Bioacoustic

(TV movie)
  • Germany Operation Dolittle (more)
Germany, 2013, 52 min (Special edition: 28 min)

Directed by:

Uli Pförtner

Cast:

Patrick Blank (narrator)

Plots(1)

Whether it's grunting, moo-ing, bellowing or "rumbling" – animals have an astonishing range of voices. Scientists around the world are conducting research into the sounds made by the various species. Are the noises made by animals not also a kind of "language"? Will it ultimately be possible to enter into a dialogue with certain animals?
The US researcher Jack Kassewitz, for instance, believes that he has decoded the language of dolphins by means of a process which "translates" the sonar sounds they produce into pictures. In Africa the Viennese scientist Angela Stöger is hot on the trail of the secret language of elephants. She hopes to display their infrasound -which is outside the range of human hearing - using what is known as an acoustic camera. If she is successful, her research could help to save the lives of many elephants.
Experiments with X-rays in Vienna, a "dictionary of cow sounds" in Braunschweig, and a wolf's head in the anechoic chamber of Humboldt University in Berlin – all of these give an insight into the work of the modern day "Dr. Dolittles" and showcase the impressive - and in some cases fantastic - means they use to attempt to interpret the language of animals. (official distributor synopsis)

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