Matto Barfuss - Wild and Far: 30 Years in Africa

Artist and adventurer Matto Barfuss has truly lived a wild life. Over 32 years, he has traveled across wild Africa more than 110 times. He has visited mountain gorillas in war-torn Congo and embarked on expeditions to mysterious lion prides. But he became famous as the "cheetah man" - spending many months on all fours among wild cheetahs in the Serengeti. In 2017, he released the feature film "Maleika", which was seen by over 120,000 viewers in Germany and is now conquering the world.

At just 12 years old, Matto Barfuss wanted to tell stories as an artist. At 14, his first attempt at making a film failed due to lack of money. But that was no reason to give up. "I wanted to change the world through images," Matto explains. "My goal was species and nature conservation."

He found his calling on the African continent. He documents the stories of big cats and gorillas, giving them personality and a voice. Now he shares some of these stories in a new multivision show. "It was love at first sight," the artist says with gleaming eyes about his first female cheetah.

It had to be that way, because he became an accepted family member. Two years later, he met the cheetah's daughter with her first two cubs and was immediately welcomed into the family. Again, he spent weeks crawling on all fours across the Serengeti plains. With great humor, Matto Barfuss recounts these experiences and shows images that take your breath away. At that time, he did not yet know that fate had an even greater surprise in store.

In 2013, Barfuss met Maleika. "Maleika had six cubs then, and I immediately felt a connection," the filmmaker recalls. "I sensed she would tell me an amazing story." That feeling did not deceive him. For four years he followed Maleika. Incredible film sequences and a dramatic story emerged.