Alchimie has signed a content partnership with Russian production company Irida, part of the Ufanet group of companies, to distribute the Irida nature and wildlife content to Alchimie’s international subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) channel network.

The partnership will add over 100 hours of content to Alchimie’s library which fuels all of its SVOD offers and currently contains over 65.000 hours of multi-language, premium factual programming.

The Irida content comprises contemporary travel and nature content originally produced for Russia’s Home 4K and Wild Nature HD channels. The programs are filmed in what are said to be “stunning untouched corners of the earth” and cover all aspects of the natural world from botanical macro-shots of plants and insects, to natural landscapes in different climatic zones. Visual scenes are accompanied by the sounds of nature so that, says Alchimie, viewers can “relax, immerse themselves in pleasant thoughts and feel like a part of planet Earth.” Alchimie’s channel editors will be able to access and add Irida’s content to channel playlists from April 2021.

“During the lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, we began to communicate more with the audience and finally realized that our TV channels are educational, entertaining... and not even exactly TV channels about nature, as their name suggests,” said Ufanet marketing director Alexander Sarkisyan commenting on the deal. “This is a real anti-stress therapy for all of us – residents of large cities who are in a state of chronic stress. Watching such content is a way to combat this stress and launch the natural mechanism of self-healing, accumulating energy for a full and successful life.”

Alchimie content director Frederic Rossignol added: “Irida’s fresh content will appeal not only to lovers of beautiful views, natural environments and travel, but its images of untouched nature offer channel subscribers an opportunity to tune into content that has been specifically produced to offer stress-relief and promote tranquility and spiritual harmony.”