It could have been a bloodbath of historic proportions. But instead, one man made the end of apartheid possible. In February 1990, President F.W. de Klerk lifted the ban on the African National Congress and ordered the release of Nelson Mandela. As the world celebrated, Mandela would go on to become South Africa’s first democratically elected president - with de Klerk as his Vice President. But de Klerk’s history is complicated.
With Donald Trump, an outmoded view of climate change has taken hold of the White House again. Great news for oil companies such as Exxon and Shell. They have been secretly financing scientific studies and campaigns, which are talking down climate change and have been influencing the public debate for 60 years. New documents prove that since 1957, these companies have known that burning fossil fuels changes the climate - their own, strictly secret research had revealed this.
Crowdfunding is perhaps the most significant social development of the past decades. It democratizes culture, innovation, and the way we do business. With insights from renowned crowdfunding experts – like designer Scott Thomas (Design Director Pres. Obama) and best selling author Seth Godin (The Icarus Deception) – CAPITAL C is the first documentary on the crowdfunding revolution. The film follows the endeavours of three independent artists, who reach out to the crowd.
Beautifully shot and interweaving interviews with scenes from soy fields in Paraguay, Raising Resistance explores Latin American farmers’ struggle against the expanding production of genetically modified soy in South America. Biotechnology, mechanisation, and herbicides have radically changed the lives of small farmers in Latin America. For farmers in Paraguay this means displacement from their land, loss of basic food supplies, and a veritable fight for survival.
Academy Award nominee James Cromwell presents a documentary on the War on Terror’s impact on civil liberties. For the past 15 years, the phrase ‘War on Terror’ has been used to justify everything from mass surveillance and spying to the use of drones to kill suspected terrorists without evidence or trial.
In this episode, we look at literature and film in the cultural nation of China. Stories and interviews with authors who struggle with censorship and self-censorship, and about the thriving film industry, which seeks to top Hollywood.
Economic reforms have led to a divided China, which threatens not only individual survival, but even economic growth and the entire Chinese society. In this episode, we hear stories and interviews about the middle class, about poverty in rural areas and about the precarious existence of hundreds of millions of migrant workers on the fringes of the cities.
After the Revolution in 1949, legislation regarding equality was passed, a huge step forward for China at the time. The economic reforms of recent decades have also improved women's lives. Yet China is still the only country in the world where more women than men commit suicide (WHO).
How is China run, and how do the people get their say? Stories and interviews about China's ruling Communist Party, about being a representative of the people, about the potential political power of blogs, and about grassroots protests and mass incidents, which are only increasing in number.
Nearly 100 years after its creation, the power of the U.S. Federal Reserve has never been greater. Markets and governments around the world hold their breath in anticipation of the Fed Chairman’s every word. Yet the average person knows very little about the most powerful - and least understood - financial institution on earth.
What if weed could be a cure to most severe diseases, such as cancer or AIDS? Not really, but cannabis can. As a matter of fact, molecules inside marijuana are now at the center of medical research around the world. There are more and more scientists, doctors, and psychologists encouraging the therapeutic and controlled use of cannabinoids for specific treatments.
30 years after Chernobyl catastrophe, and 5 years after Fukushima, it is time to see what has been happening in the “exclusion zones”, where the radioactivity rate is far above normal. This film will offer a unique access to those territories, which gather millions of people within thousands of km2
Sadaf Rahimi is the best female boxer in Afghanistan, but she must deal with her country’s traditions, fear and her own fate in order to be a free woman. Sadaf and her sister Shabnam joined the newly created women’s boxing team at the age of 13, when they returned to their country after being refugees in Iran.
In October 2001 the United States launched the war against Afghanistan, with the whole world by its side, in an act of self-defence after the attacks of 9/11. Today, the troops of the coalition are gradually packing up. They lost over 3000 soldiers and leave behind a country on the brink of civil war and bloodshed… The official rhetoric has not stood up to the stark reality on the ground. Bin Laden? Found and killed…elsewhere, in Pakistan.
