Glimpses of Western Germany

In August 1988, two armed bank robbers keep German police at bay for 54 hours during a hostage-taking drama that ends in a shootout and three deaths.

What would your family reminiscences about dad sound like if he had been an early supporter of Hitler’s, a leader of the notorious SA and the Third Reich’s minister in charge of Slovakia, including its Final Solution? Executed as a war criminal in 1947, Hanns Ludin left behind a grieving widow and six young children, the youngest of whom became a filmmaker. It's a fascinating, maddening, sometimes even humorous look at what the director calls "a typical German story." (Film Forum)

Recent archaeological discoveries in Germany have changed the way we look at Celtic society and the major role played by women.

An examination of Israel and its society after many months of war, seen initially through the prism of viral social media posts - and exclusive interviews with the soldiers behind them. These posts, some shared millions of times, show soldiers humiliating bound Palestinians, ransacking their homes, joking as they detonate schools and whole districts, and laughing as they launch high explosive ordnance into densely-packed areas. The award-winning team behind this Basement Films production traveled to Israel to interview some of these soldiers, who proudly defended themselves and their videos, some expressing callous disregard for Palestinians in Gaza. Through additional interviews with Israeli radical groups, politicians, and media figures, the film reveals Israeli Jewish society in the aftermath of October 7th, gripped by a vengeance and hate that puts into question any possibility for peace.

A woman narrates the thoughts of a world traveler, meditations on time and memory expressed in words and images from places as far-flung as Japan, Guinea-Bissau, Iceland, and San Francisco.

Documentary film about the painter and sculptor Jörg Immendorff who ranks among the most important German artists. The filmmakers accompanied Immendorff over a period of two years – until his death in May 2007. The artist had been living for nine years knowing that he was terminally ill with ALS. The film shows how Immendorff continued to work with unabated energy and how he tried not to let himself be restrained by his deteriorating health.

How did Nazi Germany, from limited natural resources, mass unemployment, little money and a damaged industry, manage to unfurl the cataclysm of World War Two and come to occupy a large part of the European continent? Based on recent historical works of and interviews with Adam Tooze, Richard Overy, Frank Bajohr and Marie-Bénédicte Vincent, and drawing on rare archival material.

Join Megan McCormick on a journey of discovery across Japan's spectacular heartland starting in Japan's beautiful former capital Kyoto. She explores Buddhist temples, World Heritage Sites, and bargains at the city's best flea market. She then travels to Osaka, and Iga-Ueno, a former ninja stronghold, where she learns the secrets of these famously skilled assailants. She also visits the remote Sado Island and Himeji.

Nine fictitious documentaries and films reflect the mood of late 1970s Germany, particularly the two-month period in 1977 when a businessman was kidnapped by the RAF (Red Army Faction). The kidnap had been made to orchestrate the release of the original leaders of the RAF, aka the Baader-Meinhof.

The film follows the career of detective inspector Marianne Atzeroth-Freier through the Hamburg police force of the 80s and 90s. At the end of the 70s, Marianne is 30 years old and a single parent; she becomes one of Hamburg's first female police officers. Marianne is one of the first women ever to be promoted to the Hamburg homicide squad. The opposing forces in this male-dominated world are strong, she is not really taken seriously and is even bullied along the way, until she comes to the attention of the furrier Lutz R.. Against the considerable resistance of her superior, Marianne investigates in her spare time and makes a significant contribution to solving the case of the "acid barrel murderer".

Filmmaker Alain Resnais documents the atrocities behind the walls of Hitler's concentration camps.

This Traveltalk series short visits two of the most important cities on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula.

In 1935, German scientists dug for bones; in 1943, they murdered to get them. How the German scientific community supported Nazism, distorted history to legitimize a hideous system and was an accomplice to its unspeakable crimes. The story of the Ahnenerbe, a sinister organization created to rewrite the obscure origins of a nation.

The remote island of St. Helena, a British possession located in the south Atlantic, is perhaps best known as where Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled/imprisoned for the final six years of his life and where he died in 1821. His legacy on the island remains today, despite his body being disinterred and moved back to France in 1840. His home was at Longwood, one area of the island now ceded to the French in respect of its former resident. The island was discovered and named by the Portuguese in 1502. Until the British took over, many other European countries had or wanted possession of the island because of its location along natural trade routes. Jamestown is the island's only port, named after King James. With 4,000 inhabitants, St. Helena is self supporting, growing primarily potatoes and flax. However, its primary economic generator is the sale of the rare St. Helena postage stamp.

This Traveltalk series short starts in San Salvador, El Salvador's capital, emphasizing the Spanish architectural heritage. We then go to the Izalco Volcano, which was created in 1770 by an eruption of the Santa Ana Volcano. The focus then shifts to the country's agriculture. The two main products are coffee and henequen, a plant with tough, fibrous leaves used to make rope, baskets, and other products.

A documentary of the German national soccer team’s 2006 World Cup experience that changed the face of modern Germany.

Bruce Brown's The Endless Summer is one of the first and most influential surf movies of all time. The film documents American surfers Mike Hynson and Robert August as they travel the world during California’s winter (which, back in 1965 was off-season for surfing) in search of the perfect wave and ultimately, an endless summer.

This visually stunning nature documentary explores a mystical European forest to meet animals like Badger, Red Deer, Wild Boar, and especially the Reptiles & Amphibians. Bryan Maltais journeys for 90 consecutive days into this forest from winter to summer to chronicle nature's most secretive events.

Hamburg, summer 1945: The young English control officer Captain Hannes Hacker arrives in the Hanseatic city to initiate the establishment of a new, liberal German radio station - in the Funkhaus on Rothenbaumchaussee. But Hacker also has private ties to Hamburg. He was born here and lived here until he had to leave his hometown on a Jewish Kindertransport.

1 A Bitter Message Of Hopeless Grief 2 The Will To Provoke 3 The Delusions Of Expediency 4 The Pleasure Of Uninhibited Excess 5 A Scenic Harvest From The Kingdom Of Pain 6 Virtues Of Negative Fascination 7 Seven Machine Performances