Louis Family Nature Series

Friday, May 2, 8pm FREE!
Planet Earth
Episode 1: From Pole to Pole
(Alastair Fothergill, 2007, U.K., 58 minutes, DVD)
Episode 2: Mountains
(Alastair Fothergill, 2007, U.K., 58 minutes, DVD)
A breathtaking portrait of our world, the BBC’s acclaimed Planet Earth series charts life in countless forms and in dozens of locations around the world. In these episodes, witness the most intimate and complete picture of polar bear life ever filmed and take a vertiginous journey through mountain ranges, starting with the birth of a mountain at one of the lowest places on Earth and ending at the summit of Everest. Watch the first-ever film of a snow leopard hunting on the peaks of Pakistan and see how grizzlies build winter dens inside avalanche-prone slopes. Presented in HD.

Friday, May 9, 7 pm FREE! Cancelled
Bill Mills, cinematographer
Check back for news of a possible rescheduling of the event.

Friday, May 9, 8pm FREE!
Planet Earth
Episode 10: Seasonal Forests
(Alastair Fothergill, 2007, U.K., 58 minutes, DVD)
Episode 3: Fresh Water
(Alastair Fothergill, 2007, U.K., 58 minutes, DVD)
Take a trip in the air over the edge of the Arctic to the Taiga forest where a third of all trees on Earth grow. Marvel at the largest living thing on the planet, ten times the size of a blue whale—a giant sequoia in California. From helicopters, view spectacular waterfalls, journey inside the Grand Canyon, and explore the wildlife in the world's deepest lake. From the BBC’s acclaimed Planet Earth series.

Friday, May 16, 8pm FREE!
Planet Earth
Episode 4: Caves
(Alastair Fothergill, 2007, U.K., 58 minutes, DVD)
Episode 7: Great Plains     
(Alastair Fothergill, 2007, U.K., 58 minutes, DVD)
Take a journey through some of the world’s most astonishing caves. At a depth of 400 meters, the Cave of Swallows in Mexico is deep enough to engulf the Empire State Building. On the plains of Mongolia, only a handful of people have witnessed the shy Mongolian gazelle’s annual migration—it was never filmed before Planet Earth. And with the latest night vision equipment, witness a battle between 30 lions and a pack of elephants. From the BBC’s acclaimed Planet Earth series. With Gary Gibula of the National Speleogical Society to speak on personal caving stories, caving techniques, and cave preservation.

Friday, May 30, 8pm FREE!
Planet Earth
Episode 9: Shallow Seas
(Alastair Fothergill, 2007, U.K., 58 minutes, DVD)
Episode 11: Ocean Deep
(Alastair Fothergill, 2007, U.K., 58 minutes, DVD)
Watch head-butting pygmy seahorses in the coral reefs of Indonesia, huge bull fur seals and king penguins in the Antarctic, and hunting packs of sea kraits. Descend into the deep ocean where octopuses fly with wings. See the first ever time-lapse footage taken from 2,000 meters down. Presented in HD. From the BBC’s  acclaimed Planet Earth series.

Saturday, May 31, 2pm FREE!
Planet Earth
Episode 8: Jungles
(Alastair Fothergill, 2007, U.K., 58 minutes, DVD)
Jungles cover only three percent of our planet but are home to over half of the world’s species. Listen to the changing sounds of the jungle throughout the day, explore the mutually beneficial relationship of carnivorous pitcher plants and red crab spiders, and spy on chimpanzees, one of the few jungle animals able to traverse both the forest floor and the canopy in search of food. Presented in HD. From the BBC’s acclaimed Planet Earth series. With Northwestern Professors Carole Labonne and Laura Panko to talk on evolution and developmental biology with family art activities to follow.

This series is sponsored by the Louis Family Foundation.