Yesterday paleontologist Madelaine Böhme of the University of Tübingen, Germany, revealed to the world fossils of a newly discovered 11.6-million-year-old ancient ape, which her team discovered in a clay pit in Southern Germany. Their finding was published in “Nature” and immediately covered by media worldwide. The scientists believe this new species called Danuvius guggenmosi, or “Udo”, is a common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees – a missing link sought after for decades by scientists all over the world. Danuvius challenges the fundamental idea of human evolution that two-legged walking only evolved much later in Africa. Furthermore this ancient ape is only the latest find in a series of discoveries suggesting that the earliest chapters of human evolution happened in Europe, not in Africa. Others are Graecopithecus, a 7.2-million-year-old hominin found near Athens and 6-million-year-old human-like footprints from Crete, both presented in 2017.

Over the last years, a team of production company Bilderfest has had exclusive access to Madelaine Böhme and her team, documenting their groundbreaking work. The film ‘Out of Europe - A New Story of Human Evolution?’ will be released and distributed by Albatross World Sales. Through high-quality first-hand coverage, state of the art graphics, atmospheric reenactments, fascinating wildlife images and interviews with experts from Germany, the U.S., Canada, Sweden and Bulgaria the film tells the story of a fundamental change in our idea of human evolution.

Find more news coverage here: nature: Ancient ape offers clues to evolution of two-legged walking The New York Times: Standing Tall: Scientists Find Oldest Example of Upright Ape The Guardian: Bones of ape living 12m years ago point to genesis of upright walking BBC News: 'Astonishing' fossil ape discovery revealed

The film will be released at the end of November 2019. Feel free to express your interest in a screener and we will inform you once it is available.