River Tigers – Short FilmDirectors - Adam Bagger / Andy Maser

In the land of giants…


Siberian taimen, the ancient, oversized cousins of Pacific salmon, still reign in a remote kingdom of undisturbed rivers in the Russian Far East.

Roughly half of these watersheds are beyond the reach of civilization, buffered by roadless wilderness that has, for now, survived illegal poaching and logging. “River Tigers,” a documentary we produced in collaboration with Wild Salmon Center and Maser Films, puts you on an old MI-8 Soviet helicopter to this remote landscape.

Journeying there is like going back in time.


The film follows a team of adventuring fishermen to the Tugur River, the crown jewel of taimen strongholds, but one nonetheless under threat. American conservationist Guido Rahr, explorer-scientist Mikhail “Misha” Skopets, and Russian industrial magnate Alexander Abramov converge on the river in an attempt to unlock its mysteries, to find the elusive fish, and figure out a way to protect this singular place.


“River Tigers” is about the passions and the unlikely friendships that drive conservation in this last frontier.

It’s a trip to one of the last truly wild places on Earth.

And it’s all about the thrill of the hunt.


Directors: Adam Bagger / Andy Maser
Executive Producer: Guido Rahr
Consulting Producer: Oakley Brooks
Producer: Adam Bagger
Featuring: Guido Rahr / Dr. Mikhail “Misha” Skopets / Alexander Abramov
Director of Photography: Andy Maser
Additional Photography: Paul Koulikov
Editors: Greg O’Toole / Slavka Kuehn
Additional Editing: Chris Cresci
Composer: Harlan Hodges
Sound Design: Dean Jones / Chip Sloan
Post Sound Mixer: Chip Sloan
Score Mixer: Brad Cobb
Colorist: Matthew Schwab
Titles Designer: James Cooper
Illustrator: Guido Rahr
Cartographer: David Lindroth