With only around 25,000 polar bears left in the wild, Trade Secret follows three unlikely allies - a journalist, a wildlife photographer and a wildlife advocate - on a mission to protect polar bears from international commercial trade.

Filmed over six years across nine countries including Greenland, Canada, China and Norway, the film exposes the global market selling hundreds of polar bears each year, for upwards of USD$60,000.

But as the investigation deepens, it uncovers a disturbing truth: those entrusted with safeguarding the species may be entangled in their continued commercialisation, raising urgent questions about how we protect vulnerable species in a world where the lines between protection and exploitation have become blurred.

Winner: Golden Panda Award, Wildscreen

Winner: Best Independent Film, Wildscreen

Winner: Change Award, Adelaide Film Festival

Winner: Audience and Visionary Awards, Climate Film Festival, New York

Winner: Human Rights in Motion Award: FIPADOC