Private Project

Operation Rüppell

The suspenseful capture of a Critically Endangered African Rüppell's vulture in Spain provokes an improvised international operation with entities from three continents to obtain the first installation in Europe on it of a GPS transmitter to reveal Climate Change and European electronic garbage.

  • Sergio Girona
    Director
    Guias del Corazon, Aljezares Alma Verde
  • Sergio Girona
    Writer
    Aljezares Alma Verde, The Lords of the Sky
  • Sergio Girona
    Producer
    Guias del Corazon, Aljezares Alma Verde
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    environment, nature, animals, science, social, conservation, ecology
  • Runtime:
    9 minutes 58 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    December 21, 2017
  • Production Budget:
    60 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Spain
  • Country of Filming:
    Spain
  • Language:
    Catalan, Spanish
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital Full HD
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • International Nature Image Festival Portugal FIIN 2018
    Lisbon
    Portugal
    October 19, 2018
    World premiere
    Official Selection
  • Prime Documentaries Monthly Screening
    Pune
    India
    October 18, 2019
    Asian Premiere
    Official Selected Screening
  • Rural Film Fest
    Alcoi, Alicante
    Spain
    July 28, 2020
    Spain
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Sergio Girona

Biologist and naturalist, researcher and scriptwriter, and audiovisual producer. After several years in the Culture sector, he worked in the Environmental trading in several areas. Passionate about Nature, History and Archeology, research, reading and cinema, his strong artistic and social sense has led him towards the production of documentaries.
As a scriptwriter and director, he is the author of the teasers Los Señores del Cielo, 2013, and The Lords of the Sky, 2014, and of the documentary Guías del Corazón, 2014. Between 2015 and 2016 he wrote, produced and directed the documentary Aljezares, Alma Verde , a 35-minute film about the nature, history and culture of a natural spot in the province of Alicante, Spain, winner of the 1st Medi Audiovisual Contest, screened at the Wagner Theater in Aspe, aired several times on Cableworld, Official Selection of the FIIN International Festival of Nature Image of Portugal 2018 and Finalist of Miquel Fàbregues Awards 2019.
In 2016 and 2017 he was co-founder of an ecotourism company through mini-documentaries. In the second half of 2017, he started up the pre-production of his script The Lords of the Sky. In 2018 he was the author of the improvised short documentary Operation Rüppell, Official Selection of the FIIN 2018. A surprising story in the Canyet Project, within the general plot of The Lords of the Sky, where he is currently immersed in the development phase together with an international executive producer.
He has also participated in more than a dozen fiction short films, and has worked as a sound operator in the fiction feature film En la ciudad sin brújula, 2017, purchased by the new regional channel À punt., a public entity with which he has also collaborated as cameraman or associate co-producer in three TV programs.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

As a planetary issue, Climate Change and waste disposal offer us surprising news everyday. Ruppell's vultures are critically endangered and maybe are the key for understanding and reverse some severe problems affecting them and other vital fauna. In these short documentary film we were able to shoot the first european installation of a GPS system on a Ruppell's vulture. Adding that there were five different entities from four countries and three continents which made it possible, we are especially proud of this small humble film, but really great on its message.