Combat in the Air - Europe's Atomic Bombers

13 August 1961: the GDR closes the sector borders in Berlin. The city is divided overnight. Escape to the West becomes more dangerous every day. But on September 14, 1962, exactly one year, one month and one day after the Wall was built, a group of 29 people from the GDR managed to escape spectacularly through a 135-meter tunnel to the West. For more than 4 months, students from West Berlin, including 2 Italians, dug this tunnel. When the tunnel builders ran out of money after only a few meters of digging, they came up with the idea of marketing the escape tunnel. They sell the film rights to the story exclusively to NBC, an American television station.

How in 1959, during the heat of the Cold War, the government of the United States decided to create a secret military base located in the far north of Greenland: Camp Century, almost a real town with roads and houses, a nuclear plant to provide power and silos to house missiles aimed at the Soviet Union.

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.

In August 1962, director Leslie Woodhead made a two-minute film in Liverpool's Cavern Club with a raw and unrecorded group of rockers called the Beatles. He arranged their first live TV appearances on a local show in Manchester and watched as the Fab Four phenomenon swept the world. Twenty-five years later while making films in Russia, Woodhead became aware of how, even though they were never able to play in the Soviet Union, the Beatles' legend had soaked into the lives of a generation of kids. This film meets the Soviet Beatles generation and hears their stories about how the Fab Four changed their lives, including Putin's deputy premier Sergei Ivanov, who explains how the Beatles helped him learn English and showed him another life. (Storyville)

Today London, tomorrow Paris, the day after New York – the life of the "jetsetter." Long before the climate crisis and flight shame, flying was considered the epitome of luxury, freedom, and cosmopolitanism. Passenger aviation is making flight attendants and pilots the ultimate dream jobs. Modern aircraft are setting new standards in comfort, technology, and style. Flying is becoming a hobby of high society.

Russen und Deutsche - Sieben historische Wendepunkte

A look back at an incredible challenge that combines human adventure and historic exploit. In 1909, Louis Blériot made the first flight across the English Channel, propelling aviation into the modern era. 110 years on, a team of enthusiasts attempt a mad-cap gamble, to fly a replica Blériot XI.

Since 1950, there have been 32 nuclear weapon accidents, known as "Broken Arrows." A Broken Arrow is defined as an unexpected event involving nuclear weapons that result in the accidental launching, firing, detonating, theft or loss of the weapon. To date, six nuclear weapons have been lost and never recovered.Now, recently declassified documents reveal the history and secrecy surrounding the events known as "Broken Arrows". There have been 32 nuclear weapon accidents since 1950. Six of these nuclear weapons have been lost and never recovered. What does this say about our defense system? What does this mean to our threatened environment? What do we do to rectify these monumental "mistakes"? Using spectacular special effects, newly uncovered and recently declassified footage, filmmaker Peter Kuran explores the accidents, incidents and exercises in the secret world of nuclear weapons.

This documentary recounts the history of modern aviation (primarily in Britain) from roughly 1900 until the inter-war period, using old monochrome footage of original aircraft, contemporary color footage of replica planes in flight as well as a number of photographs of famous aviators.

"Our Cities Must Fight" is a civil defense film that was produced for the U.S. government to illustrate the importance of not abandoning urban centers during an atomic bombing. The film cautions that doing so would make it easier for the invading "enemy."

An exploration of the reality of potential nuclear attacks on the United States with an emphasis that survival is possible. It outlines key strategies for protection during a nuclear emergency, including recognizing warning signals, taking immediate cover, and understanding the effects of a nuclear explosion. The film stresses the importance of preparation, including knowing evacuation routes and creating a family protection plan. It also highlights the significance of mass, distance, and time as defenses against radiation, and encourages citizens to stay informed and ready in the event of a crisis.

During the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, Soviet Navy officer Vasily Arkhipov refused to launch a nuclear strike and saved the world from nuclear war and total destruction.

A cinematic, character-driven insight to what it meant to produce and to own a car in communist times: the Socialist propaganda dreams and the hard reality of living that dream. The freedom that these slow and clumsy vehicles were giving to their owners; the cars as an instrument in the Cold War battle; legends and homemade tune-ups as an attempt to stand at least a little bit off the crowd.

Deals with the establishment of the Italian republic and Italy’s foreign affairs, particularly how Italy regained national sovereignty and appreciation from the USA and Western Europe after the Second World War. It explains in what way Italy benefits from integration into a Western alliance system (NATO, Council of Europe, European Coal and Steel Community) during the Cold War.

THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE presents Nixon’s China Game, the story of an operation so secret that it managed to elude the international press, the members of Nixon’s cabinet, and even the US State Department. The documentary features never-before-seen footage of Kissinger’s secret mission to China, newly released transcripts of the negotiations, private diaries, Nixon’s own handwritten notes, and interviews with American and Chinese officials -- including those who were in on the covert plan, and those who were kept in the dark.

The "Great Communicator" -- the 40th U.S. president -- is the subject of this in-depth documentary that draws on the insights of Ronald Reagan's political allies and adversaries alike (Mikhail Gorbachev, George Bush Sr. and Caspar Weinberger). Members of Reagan's family, including Nancy Reagan, Ron Reagan Jr. and Patti Davis, are also present to discuss his achievements and influence on the American political landscape.

A 3 year trade war has created corporate casualties in both US and China. In China, a dual circulation model is now underway to mitigate the effects of US protectionism. In the US, a Biden administration mulls new economic measures against China, even as industry groups lobby for tariffs to be lifted. Both countries also brace for what used to be unthinkable- the possibility of a financial war.

Several important historical events occurred on the planes with call sign Air Force One. These events are described within the backdrop of the evolution of the presidents' airplanes.

In 1967, in the middle of the Cold War, Joseph Stalin's only daughter goes to the American embassy in New Delhi and asks for asylum. Svetlana leaves behind her country and her two children. Hunted by the press, the KGB, and many admirers, the woman, nicknamed the Kremlin princess, will never cease to flee. From the summit of the Soviet empire to the solitude and poverty of her last years in a Wisconsin home, Gabriel Tejedor traces the destiny of a resolutely free woman, at the very heart of the century and its geopolitical challenges.

Die ersten Fliegerinnen - Zwischen Triumph und Tragödie