The recent French policy of forcefully deporting hundreds of Roma families has provoked a row all over Europe. This is the story of one Roma family as they try to make a life for themselves in France.
Samucha lives in the mountains of Tusheti, a tiny region in Georgia on the border with Chechnya. He's a fabulous horse rider, a shepherd, a musician, singer and storyteller. Every springtime, Samucha migrates with his flock of 2,000 sheep to reach the high plains of the Caucasus, located at an altitude of 4000 metres. But he feels tired and old and after this season, will finally retire.
Under Stalin, hundreds of thousands of children were born in or sent to, the gulags. Children as young as three could be considered dangerous counter-revolutionaries and taken to the wilds of Siberia. Condemned for 'coming from the worst stock', these children were separated from their families, abused, neglected and starved. Over time, more and more babies were born into the hell of the work camps. They grew up never knowing their families or homeland, believing that every child in the world lived the same way.
This documentary captures the life of the last Kyrgyz nomads of the Afghan Pamir. Imprisoned between three borders, they have experienced famine, exile, war and persecution. The only place where they have found security and peace is the hidden depths of Central Asia. Despite the hardships and extremely inhospitable terrain, these people have managed to survive and maintain their traditional way of life against all odds.
In Burkina Faso, the rapid desertification of once fertile plains caused droughts and ruined harvests, sparking a mass exodus of inhabitants and famines that decimated populations. Yet one illiterate peasant farmer and his ingenious farming methods have proved the key to achieving what experts have failed to do: stop the desert. This documentary tells the unique story of Yacouba Sawadogo, whose years of toil have transformed the lives of thousands.
In the valley of the Nyimba people, in Nepal, lives Gharjuwa and her family. The Nyimba practise fraternal polyandry where each family is built round a sole household and a sole wife. Gharjuwa is married to all the brothers from one family. This is her story of a life of sharing and solidarity beside her four husbands who bore her four children.
In India's largest cities, a bizarre new profession has established itself: the wedding detective. The detective's job is to dig up information on the financial situation of the bride and groom, on their character and level of education. Parents spare no expense before agreeing to their children's marriages; since matches are increasingly made through the internet, parents want to be sure of what they are getting before they accept a new member into the family.
The graveyards of the Philippine metropolis of Cebu are home to hundreds of families with children. At night they pitch their camps between the gravestones and sit down to cook, eat and do their washing. It seems that the city has grown used to its graveyard occupants, who have been a familiar sight since the 1950s. This documentary shows the everyday life of the children who live and play among the graves and tells of their hopes and dreams for the future. Tha na cladhan ann am baile mòr Cebu anns na Phillipines mar dhachaigh do na ceudan de theaghlaichean. Air an oidhche, bidh iad a' cur teantaichean an àirde eadar na leacan agus an sin, bidh iad a' còcacaireachd, ag ithe agus a' dèanamh an cuid nigheadaireachd. Tha am baile air fàs cleachdte ri luchd-còmhnaidh nan cladhan, a th' air a bhith ann bho na 50an. Tha am fiolm a' sealltainn beatha làitheil na cloinne a tha beò agus a' cluich a-measg nan leacan agus tha e ag innse mu na dòchasan a th' aca airson na h-ama ri teachd.
Likden is a trekking guide living in Skagam located 3,700 meters high in the Himalayan valley of Zanskar. After four years of negotiation with the bride's family, he is now getting married. The preparation of the ritual lasts 4 days and the Nyopas, the spiritual guides of the community, are responsible for the observance of the ancestral traditions. Even if the lifestyle in Skagam seems stuck in the past, the emergence of mobile phones and the internet is raising new hopes. Through this Himalayan wedding, this film shows the eternal confrontation between tradition and modernity.
Every summer this troupe of Uzbek Tightrope Dancers, or 'Dorboz', roam from village to village, performing their art at bazaars, marriages and fairs throughout Uzbekistan. These wire-walkers are part of juggling-tradition that is 1000 years old and unique to Uzbekistan.
In a remote corner of Northern Canada, in the coldest inhabited part of the planet, French scientists, France and Eric have decided to drop anchor. A few kilometers away from an isolated Inuit community, they have chosen to bring up their two little girls (aged two and five) in this magic and harsh environment to fully experience the Arctic way of life.
On the outskirts of Dhaka lies a giant slum of tanneries and over 500,000 people who work in them. Every year this living hell floods the European market with cheap leather. The workers here slave away at archaic machinery in absolute squalor, turning 14 million skins into leather. Toxic products used on the leather burn their skin, cause cancer and kill most before fifty.
Documentary about Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum, the crown prince of Dubai, and his passion for thoroughbred racehorses.
In Summer 2005, a mysterious submarine is discovered off the coast of Italy at 120 metres deep. For Lorenzo del Veneziano, an underwater marine archeologist, it is an amazing sight. The submarine is intact! It stands almost vertically at the bottom of the sea, it's hull stuck in the sediment. What is the story of this ship, why is it here? By uncovering the mystery of its origins we will retrace the incredible story of U-455, a German warship that fought every marine battle against the Allies, from the Baltic Sea, to the Atlantic and then finally the Mediterranean where it now rests. An extraordinary underwater adventure and an ambitious historical investigation.
