Espions pour la planète

Although a real awareness of the populations is underway - the multiplication of natural disasters and heat records helping - the human activities responsible for global warming remain unchanged, as if the threat was unreal. This collective immobility could have its origin in the brain. A number of cognitive biases impede judgment.

Off The Mark is a documentary about a world-first dog sled expedition in Finnmark, Norway, in the middle of the polar night in search of microplastics and indigenous solutions to the climate crisis.

Zanzibar: Trouble in Paradise depicts a group of women who gained financial independence and stability in an otherwise male dominated culture through seaweed farming, until climate change killed the seaweed. The film follows the women, whose ingenuity led them to a new crop, more resistant to climate change: sea sponges. However, new challenges occurred; combating bacteria and climate change threatening their new product as well. In bringing the story of these women to light, the film demonstrates their resiliency and individual struggles facing the effects of climate change. While many documentaries focus on the science, Zanzibar shines a light on the disaster's impact upon those least likely to be heard.

President Mikhail Gorbachev recounts the end of the Cold War and the reduction of nuclear arms.

Jonathan Stavleu explores, in a stream-of-consciousness video essay, the relationship people have with water and what happens when access to it is taken away. For this work, he examines anecdotal histories he has heard from Estonians, as well as stories from his own family history in the Netherlands, weaving them together into a journal-like narrative.

In the wake of Greta Thunberg, the youth has been fighting for several months to save our planet. Leading the marches, on the front pages of the media as well as on social networks, young women have become, sometimes unintentionally, the key figures of this movement. Who are these women? Why are they so cheered and criticized at the same time? To better understanding of the commitment of Anuna and Adelaide (Belgium), Luisa (Germany), Lena (France), Leah (Uganda) and Artemisia (Brazil), we decided to follow them, but also to compare their struggle with that of another extraordinary woman who preceded them: Julia Butterfly. Twenty years ago, after spending 738 days on top of a majestic sequoia, this young American activist managed to save a thousand-year-old forest from being cut down. The film tells the story of the journey of these committed young women, each in their own way, but all driven by a unique energy, these "sisters in arms" tell their doubts and their desire.

Spin doctors spread misinformation and confusion among American citizens to delay progress on such important issues as global climate change.

In the cobalt mining areas of Katanga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), babies are being born with horrific birth defects. Scientists and doctors are finding increasing evidence of environmental pollution from industrial mining which, they believe, may be the cause of a range of malformations from cleft palate to some so serious the baby is stillborn. More than 60% of the world’s reserves of cobalt are in the DRC and this mineral is essential for the production of electric car batteries, which may be the key to reducing carbon emissions and to slowing climate change. In The Cost of Cobalt we meet the doctors treating the children affected and the scientists who are measuring the pollution. Cobalt may be part of the global solution to climate change, but is it right that Congo’s next generation pay the price with their health? Many are hoping that the more the world understands their plight, the more pressure will be put on the industry here to clean up its act.

A growing group of Dutch people in their twenties see the earth becoming less livable. They join the climate group Extinction Rebellion and campaign to fight the climate crisis. There is little they shy away from in their struggle: nightly campaigns, high-altitude actions, and even arrests or a criminal record. Everything for a better planet.

The bleakness of Antarctica is a fallacy. The ice continent is full of life and offers a biodiversity of which only about two percent are known. Much of it is under water and could determine the future of human beings. When the northern lights cover the ice landscape in summer, the animals in the Antarctic are in a paradisiacal state. Whales blow their fountains in the sky, penguins fly like small rockets into the water, seals dive for crabs under the glittering ice floes. From the bay of the Ross Sea to the ice shelf, from the huge penguin colonies to steaming volcanoes, a life in rhythm with the ice. But the consequences of climate change are slowly becoming apparent here too. While some species are dying, others are spreading. They could bring new viruses and bacteria with them, and new dangers for humans too. The structure of nature has gotten off course. How many generations will still be able to experience the magic of Antarctica?

Growing Humanity follows six resilient women farmers in the Western U.S., as they navigate gender discrimination, balancing life’s routines, and the challenges of small-scale farming, shedding light on their pivotal role in transforming agriculture and reconnecting communities to the source of their food.

Near the cold Pyrenees of Iberia, surrounded by ancient and dark green forests, lies a strange land where the rain is scarce and the wind is always blowing. The soil is poor, there are no trees and the landscape resembles the moon. Is this what the future of desertification will look like? Incredible creatures with surprising behavior live in this strange landscape. The documentary explores a place with very dry skin but a wet hidden heart where even waterfowl or amphibians can live. Living in such conditions is not easy and only the toughest animals will survive.

September 2022 marked the 50th anniversary of the Summit Series, the iconic hockey tournament that pitted the best players from Canada against the best from the Soviet Union. This documentary enlarges the canvas to tell the story from the unique perspectives of a diverse group who are rarely, if ever, heard: diplomats, NHL hockey legends, Soviet players, journalists, fans, broadcasters, business leaders and Team Canada’s Chairman – all reveal untold stories about what happened before, during, and after September ‘72.

Greenland

Tensions between the USSR and the United States were high in 1959, with the seemingly constant threat of nuclear war. Then some unlikely ambassadors stepped forward to clear all that away: the Harlem Globetrotters. From Harlem With Love is the story of how a group of barnstorming basketball players traveled to the heart of the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War and bridged a cultural gap many thought would stand forever.

Step inside one of the most notorious places on the planet in Area 51: I Was There. Made famous by The X Files and generations of conspiracy theorists, only a select few have been to Area 51, and even fewer have spoken of what lies inside. But now you can venture beyond the perimeter fence to discover some of its incredible secrets in our ground-breaking special, Area 51: I Was There. Area 51 was established by the CIA in 1955 to develop classified military projects. Since then the base has gained worldwide notoriety. Satellite images of the area show seven runways and over 25 hangars, and many claim it is here that the US government carries out experiments on everything from UFOs to aliens themselves. Indeed, many insist that the true purpose of the site is to reverse-engineer alien spacecraft recovered from the infamous Roswell crash site. Yet, officially, Area 51 doesn't even exist...

Jazz and decolonization are intertwined in a powerful narrative that recounts one of the tensest episodes of the Cold War.

Follow the shocking, yet humorous, journey of an aspiring environmentalist, as he daringly seeks to find the real solution to the most pressing environmental issues and true path to sustainability.

French actress Marion Cotillard travelled to the Philippines to meet with children and young people on climate change and what they want big-polluting governments to do about it. One of the girls she met is Marinel, a survivor of the Super Typhoon disaster in the Philippines in 2013, who is taking action on climate change in her own community. She participates in Plan International’s climate change adaptation projects and now teaches at youth camps to pass on everything she has learnt to the younger children. Marinel travelled to Paris with Plan International for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) in December 2015.

Two Canadian experts in underwater filming, Mario Cyr and Jill Heinerth, join forces for the first time to record how Arctic wildlife is adapting to the dramatic effects of climate change.