English summary

‘Enchantingly beautiful journey in, across and along the Rhine: follow the river, the man and his canoe’

The Rhine flows past Wageningen, through the beautiful flood meadows. Passionate film maker and ecologist Ruben Smit, who created a furore in 2013 with ‘De Nieuwe Wildernis’, has made another awe-inspiring nature documentary. This time about the flora and fauna in and surrounding our Rhine. The enchanting images carry you right through the seasons.
In his own unique way, playing with light, focus and composition, Smit creates an intimate impression of the Rhine’s beauty and the wonder it inspires. He teaches you, the viewer, to see and shows you what you would have missed if left to your own devices. For the first time, in Levende Rivier, Ruben himself plays a role in front of the camera. As your guide, he pilots you through the Netherlands with his musings, taking the route of one of the mightiest arteries that has formed the Netherlands and made it what it is today.

During Smit’s canoe trip from Lobith to the North Sea, you will experience what it is like to paddle through a snow storm, to spend a night on an island in the Haringvliet estuary and to canoe through the Biesbosch at low water. And in Wageningen the Rhine’s beauty is so very close by, within walking distance.