Matto Barfuss - Wild and Far: Over 30 Years in Africa

Artist and adventurer Matto Barfuss has visited Africa more than 110 times over 32 years. He spent time with mountain gorillas in war-torn Congo and went on expeditions to lion prides - but he became famous as the "cheetah man": for many months he lived on all fours among wild cheetahs in the Serengeti. In 2017 he released the feature film Maleika, which drew over 120,000 cinema-goers in Germany alone and has since screened worldwide.

Barfuss wanted to tell stories as an artist from the age of 12; at 14, a first attempt at filmmaking fell through for lack of money. He eventually found his path in Africa, documenting the lives of big cats and gorillas and giving them individual personalities. His new multi-vision show covers all of this: his first cheetah, Maleika and her six cubs, the four years he spent following her, and the dramatic footage that came out of it.

For the first time, the show also introduces meerkat groups from the Kalahari. Then there are the mountain gorillas among whom he lived in eastern Congo - a story that stays with him, not least because only around 650 of these animals remain in the world. He also shows the conditions under which the footage was shot: a 4x4 stuck between hippos and crocodiles in a river, days-long drives through the mud of the world's largest salt pan. Barfuss tells it all with humour - and one clear line: "For pictures and stories, the risk is worth it".