This up-close, captivating look at an iconic animal traces our complex relationship to bears throughout history-and what they can tell us about ourselves. On Being a Bear draws on history, legends, scientific studies, and the author's thirty years of observing bears around the world to offer a richly detailed biography of these iconic animals, including the many ways bears have figured in our lives and imaginations. As author Remy Marion tells us, some cultures view bears as our wild cousins-as humans cloaked in fur-while others cast bears as cuddly characters in cartoons or seek to eradicate their grizzled forms from civilization. Scientists have made new discoveries into bears' varied diets, their powerful sense of smell, and a mother bear's stubborn patience with her cubs. Bears play a vital role in our ecosystems, and new studies into bear hibernation could lead to medical breakthroughs for humans. Offering these and more astonishing insights, On Being a Bear brings readers face-to-face with these long admired, feared, and misunderstood animals, and sets the record straight through a combination of thrilling science and expert storytelling.

Peter Greenaway writes and directs this psychological drama. Architect Stourley Kracklite (Brian Dennehy) goes to Rome to organise an exhibition paying tribute to an 18th century predecessor. There he becomes convinced his pregnant wife, Louisa (Chloe Webb), is having an affair with one of his rivals and when he develops stomach cramps he suspects she is trying to poison him.

Erotic French drama, starring Juliette Binoche as Nina, a free-spirited actress who has moved to Paris. After a string of casual affairs, Nina meets shy estate agent Paulot (Wadeck Stanczak), although she finds herself more drawn to his flatmate Quentin (Lambert Wilson), an emotionally disturbed actor who earns a living performing in live sex shows. As the three characters deal with their shifting relationships, a theatre director arrives on the scene and starts to take a great interest in Nina, personally and professionally.

A mouse and a bear make the unlikeliest of allies in this Academy Award-nominated animation adapted from the children's books by Gabrielle Vincent. Since before anyone can remember, mice have lived underground whilst bears occupy the surface. That's the way it's always been, and that's the way it's supposed to stay. But when a young orphan mouse named Célestine ventures above ground, she finds herself making friends with a very large, down-on-his-luck bear by the name of Ernest. As the pair try to help each other through their troubles, the powers that be in the mice and bear worlds, fearful of a change to the natural order, join forces to try and solve their common problem. The film received an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature.