An extraordinary rescue operation for an ancient reptile. The film takes us on a journey of discovery to Vietnam – to the border between mythology and species protection. The story of a turtle goddess is told. According to legend, in the 15th century she helped King Leloi with a magic sword to drive the Chinese occupiers out of the country. And indeed, an ancient reptile lives in the lake, which belongs to the extremely rare species of Asian giant freshwater turtles. When she appears, it is considered lucky for the people of Hanoi: crowds gather on the shore to pay their respects to the toad goddess. The film accompanies the British biologist Tim Mac Cormack, who is waging an almost hopeless battle: he is looking for the last survivors of the archaic reptile species in Vietnamese lakes, has started a protection program and hopes that a breeding program could still save the species that is threatened with extinction.

Ein Film von Wolfgang Luck und Wolfgang Rebernik
Kamera: Wolfgang Rebernik
Schnitt: Karl-Heinz Satzger
Musik: Wolfram Burgtorf
Redaktion: Mitja Kaiser (NDR, ARTE)
Produktion: luckfilm