ZDF Enterprises is presenting a colorful palette of programs at this spring’s major international TV trade fair, MIPTV, which is being held in Cannes from 7 to 10 April 2014, and preceded by MIPDOC on 5 and 6 April.

At MIPDOC, the “mini-market” for documentaries, ZDFE.factual will be showcasing its new “Nature Now!” programs, which include the important three-part “Nature’s Greatest Secret – The Coral Triangle,” a landmark series about the area with the greatest concentration of marine life found anywhere in the world.

Other programs focus on the surprising wilderness flourishing on our doorsteps (“Wild Berlin”) and in an area once ravaged by brown-coal mining (“From Hell to Heaven – Lusatia”). They can be complemented by the four-hour cavalcade of creeping, crawling, and, most worryingly of all, generally invisible bugs (“Infestation”).

Highlights from the historical factual collection include the cycle of six one-hour portraits of “Women Who Made History,” (6 x 50’ HD) a three-hour journey into “Secret Societies – Myths and Realities of a Parallel World” (3 x 50’ HD) and programs on doomsday plans and nuclear folly, among others.

The “tough guy” sub-genre continues to grow, with fresh new seasons of “Alaska State Troopers,” “Bomb Hunters,” “Hard Time” and “Rocket City Rednecks” waiting to satisfy the millions of viewers who have become stalwart fans of these “in-your-face” docs.

This spring, ZDFE.drama is introducing the much-anticipated Swedish series “Thicker Than Water” (10 x 60’ HD), a drama that’s not a “noir” police procedural, but a “noir” family drama about a mother who tries to restore peace and love among her conflicted children after her death in a most unusual manner.

Fans of romance can look forward to Ireland-based love stories by “Cecelia Ahern” (2 x 90’ HD / stand-alones), the sumptuous, exotic two-parter “The Girl with the Indian Emerald” (2 x 90’ HD) and “The Ingredients of Love” (1 x 90’ HD), an atmospheric excursion into love, Paris-style. New seasons of popular cycles are also available, from Inga Lindström to Dora Heldt and “Spring Fever.” The "Clan" (10 x 60' HD) is an exquisite “we dunnit” crime-comedy series which masterfully walks the tightrope between “black” and “humor”.

New crime shows being in demand more than ever, ZDFE.drama delivers a bouquet of police thrillers from Sweden (“Sebastian Bergman” with Rolf Lassgård), Germany (“A Case of Murder”), Australia (“Jack Irish”) and other locations where crime can be “lite” or dark.

The “Distributor of the Year – Cartoon Forum Tributes 2013” award was presented to ZDFE.junior, confirming the special recognition of ZDF Enterprises’ achievements in the field of animation. The achievements continue in 2014 with the winsome “Rusty Knight,” an animated series (52 x 13’ HD) starring a knight built from an old cash register and assorted scrap metal pieces who thinks he’s the bravest, coolest knight in Scrapland. Also in the animation category is “Q Pootle 5” (52 x 11’ HD), which will whisk pre-schoolers away to the planet Okidoki and its endearing , multi-colored inhabitants.

Turning to live-action for youngsters, “Sam Fox: Extreme Adventures” (26 x 26’ HD) offers both fun and thrills involving a normal teen whose adventures – including encounters with killer sharks and erupting volcanoes – are nothing if not extreme.

Also attracting great attention are the new, animated “New Adventures of Peter Pan” (26 x 22’ HD, 3D), “Lassie and Friends” (26 x 22' HD) and the “Jungle Book” (104 x 11’ + 1 x 60’ HD), classics revisited by DQ Entertainment for the children of today. Jonathan M. Shiff’s “Mako Mermaids,” meanwhile, continue to cast their spell on teen and pre-teen girls who are also showing great interest in merchandising products.

ZDFE.entertainment’s MIPTV highlight is the newly reinvigorated format “Dalli Dalli,” the fast-paced quiz show with celebrities, on-stage fun and gags, and an athletic host who leaps into the air when something truly outstanding has been performed.

Alexander Coridass, President and CEO of ZDF Enterprises: “There have been many newsworthy developments here at ZDF Enterprises since the last major semi-annual market, MIPCOM, last October, from our sleek and spaciously remodeled website to the many new hours of programs in all genres. The year 2014 contains two major anniversaries – the start of World War I and the fall of the Berlin Wall – for which we have factual programs ideally suited to commemorative broadcasts, such as the three-part “Doomsday – World I” with colorized archive material, “Verdun Descent into Hell” on the most gruesome military confrontation of WWI, and “Busting the Berlin Wall,” a two parter about an event that is still intensely present to many of us today. Finally, just as the international press is reporting about the resurrection of a 30,000-year-old Siberian virus, we are busy preparing the science thriller / drama documentary “Mammoth Outbreak” on what could happen if such a virus were reawakened to life along with a long-extinct mammoth – a mixture of “Contagion,” “Jurassic Park” and solid facts.“