Aral Citytellers

Turkey's history has been shaped by two major political figures: Mustafa Kemal (1881-1934), known as Atatürk, the Father of the Turks, founder of the modern state, and the current president Recep Tayyıp Erdoğan, who apparently wants Turkey to regain the political and military pre-eminence it had as an empire under the Ottoman dynasty.

China’s President Xi Jinping is a force to be reckoned with. As leader of the Communist colossus, he commands the world’s attention, but who is China’s strongman and what is his agenda?

Hoffnungsschimmer am Horn von Afrika

Stunde Null auf dem Dach der Welt - Was kommt nach dem Dalai Lama?

A documentary on how British double-dealing during the First World War ignited the conflict between Arab and Jew in the Middle East. The bitter struggle between Arab and Jew for control of the Holy Land has caused untold suffering in the Middle East for generations. It is often claimed that the crisis originated with Jewish emigration to Palestine and the foundation of the state of Israel. Yet the roots of the conflict are to be found much earlier – in British double-dealing during the First World War. This is a story of intrigue among rival empires; of misguided strategies; and of how conflicting promises to Arab and Jew created a legacy of bloodshed which determined the fate of the Middle East.

A new reading of the historical period that began with the reign of the Catholic Monarchs (1479-1516) and the discovery of America (1492), as well as an analysis of its undeniable influence on the subsequent evolution of the history of Spain and the world.

The war in the Ukraine has changed the way many European countries view Russian politics. Suddenly it became clear how dependent countries had become on Russian gas imports for decades and what Vladimir Putin was up to. However, no country needs more gas than Germany. It was only after Russia's invasion of the Ukraine that the German government realized that Russia had long used gas as a weapon to impose its will on states. The instrument created for this purpose is the natural gas production company GAZPROM. So how did Germany become so dependent on Russian gas? The documentary shows how, over several decades and several changes of government, a broad alliance of politicians and business representatives did everything possible to secure Germany's energy supply with cheap Russian gas, while the Kremlin's foreign policy became increasingly aggressive and the warnings of experts went unheeded.

As the crucial question arises of the future succession of the Dalai Lama, we take a look back at the tormented history of the "Land of Snows" which lives under Chinese domination and which remains a geopolitical issue of the first order. A valuable documentary that gives voice to a people that China is trying to permanently silence.

A courageous pastor uses his underground network to rescue and aid North Korean families as they risk their lives to embrace freedom.

After the end of the Cold War, the Baltic was viewed almost as a quiet backwater. A nice place to visit to see charming Hanseatic cities and sandy beaches. But since the war in Ukraine the Baltic sea, bordered by eight European Union countries as well as Russia, has become a hot spot of world geopolitics. And tensions are high.

A "Chinese" father reflects on the changing relationship of China and US during his trip to Beijing to retrieve his 3-year-old "American" daughter who has been stranded because of the recent "decoupling" of the two countries. Born in China and living in the American Midwest, filmmaker Yinan Wang attempts to unpack his own experience of how a transnational migrant family deals with the distress caused by identity, nationalism, and geopolitics.

Iran : voyage interdit au pays des ayatollahs

Gazprom, an industrial and financial conglomerate created in 1992, is the key weapon in the Kremlin's geopolitical strategy. First producer of natural gas, Russia indeed holds a third of the world's total reserves. Responsible for producing, distributing and selling it, Gazprom is a company like no other, where gas market professionals work, but also ministers, deputies and advisers close to the Russian president. It was during the winter of 2005-2006 that Europe, which buys 30% of its gas from Russia, suddenly became aware of its vulnerability. Comment ? Overnight, Russia had just cut gas supplies to the pro-Western Ukraine of Viktor Lushchenko, who refused to pay tariffs multiplied by five. Since then, the continuous rise in oil prices, coupled with ever-increasing Chinese demand, has confirmed the key role that its hydrocarbons give to Russia.

Ukrainian journalist Katya Soldak, currently living in New York City and working for Forbes magazine, chronicles Ukraine's history: its strong ties to Russia for centuries; how it broke away from the USSR and began to walk alone; the Orange Revolution, the Maidan Revolution, the Crimea annexation, the Donbass War; all through the eyes of her family and friends settled in Kharkiv, a large Ukrainian city located just eighteen miles from the Russian border.

Zentralasiens Kampf ums Wasser

Banned since 1993 in France and Germany, does the PKK still represent a danger? A dive into the heart of a complex geopolitical issue, where the fight for freedom, manipulation and pressure are intertwined.

After twenty years in power, Vladimir Putin continues to implement his geopolitical strategy with Russia’s comeback on the big stage of world politics. He already announced his ambitions in 2007 – and still, it seems like the western governments were hit completely unprepared. What is behind this repeat of the Cold War?

A look back over nine years of the Syrian Civil War, an inextricable conflict, like a black box, due to the competing interests of the many factions in presence and those of the foreign powers.

The story of the cross destiny of George Orwell (1903-50) and Aldous Huxley (1894-1963), the genius authors of the two most groundbreaking novels of anticipation of the 20th century: 1984 and Brave New World; two lucid witnesses of the maledictions of the modern world whose novels have found a considerable echo with our time.

Le dessous des cartes - volume 4 - L'Europe s'interroge - dvd 1