Eddie Izzard: Marathon Man for Sport Relief

In a meditation on the meaning behind sports in a Post-Apartheid South Africa, three young girls muse on their hopes and dreams as aspiring Drum Majorettes.

Gombessa Expedition 1 To dive for the Coelacanth is to go back in time. In 1938, when it was known only as a fossil, a Coelacanth was discovered in South Africa in a fisherman's net. This species bears witness to an evolutionary bifurcation 380 million years ago, and bears the marks of a great event: the day the fish left the ocean for the open air. Does it hold the secret to the transition to walking on land? In 2010, a marine biologist and outstanding diver, Laurent Ballesta, took the first photographs of the Coelacanth in its ecosystem. In April 2013, divers and researchers set down their equipment at the Sodwana base camp in South Africa, in the club founded by Peter Timm (who died in 2014). Six weeks of extreme diving at depths of over 120 meters, in an attempt to film the Coelacanth with a double-headed camera, collect its DNA and tag a subject with a satellite-linked beacon...

In 1975, Ryszard Kapuściński, a veteran Polish journalist, embarked on a seemingly suicidal road trip into the heart of the Angola's civil war. There, he witnessed once again the dirty reality of war and discovered a sense of helplessness previously unknown to him. Angola changed him forever: it was a reporter who left Poland, but it was a writer who returned…

A detailing of the plight of white South African farmers.

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)

Meet Jonny Corndawg, the underground country-music legend. A born-and-bred Virginian, Jonny has played on five continents in as many years, and every state in the lower 48. Now Jonny has given himself over, heart and heel, to the world of Running. Jonny let us follow him on a tour down the California coast as he braved injury and isolation on his quest to complete the Surf City USA Marathon in Huntington Beach, CA.

In Capetown, South Africa, in September 1966, Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd, the architect of apartheid, was stabbed to death in Parliament. The course of South African history was changed by the assassin, Dimitri Tsafendas, who was written off as mad and condemned to twenty-eight years of imprisonment. A Question of Madness tells the extraordinary human story of a man, born of a black mother, but classified white, who travelled the world in hopeless search of sanctuary - eventually returning to the land of apartheid to wreak vengeance on the one who symbolized the racism which had haunted his life.

Homeless since the age of nine, South African skateboarder Thalente Biyela travels to the US to pursue his dream of becoming a professional skateboarder. Through his eyes, we experience what it takes to rise up out of circumstance and escape a lifetime on the streets.

The halcyon days of skateboarding are alive in rural South Africa. Indigo Skate Camp is home to the village's very first generation of skaters, who are growing up with a different outlook on life from their elders.

A look at the big cats that live in Mala Mala.

Journey to the banks of the Sand River, where seven magnificent creatures reign supreme. In this captivating 24-hour odyssey, witness their pursuit, survival, and delicate balance of power-Marvel at their strength, vulnerability, and relentless determination. Encounter the neighbours from hell, territorial battles, and the intricate dance of interactions. Within this unfolding drama, the biggest, most potent, fastest, and smartest thrive while others meet their fate. Brace yourself for an unforgettable adventure-a testament to resilience, survival, and the raw beauty of seven of Africa's magnificent creatures.

Südafrika - Der Kinofilm

After years of swimming every day in the freezing ocean at the tip of Africa, Craig Foster meets an unlikely teacher: a young octopus who displays remarkable curiosity. Visiting her den and tracking her movements for months on end he eventually wins the animal’s trust and they develop a never-before-seen bond between human and wild animal.

Mandela’s legend is built on his absence, during his 27- year incarceration. In 1990, when Nelson Mandela is released, South Africa is waiting for their Messiah. But he doesn’t know it yet, he is the most famous political prisoner of the Planet. Will he be up to the challenge?

In 2009 started the hardest and longest footrace in the world: an average run of 43 miles/day, 64 total stages, no days off, for a total of 2,800 miles from southern Italy up to the North Cape in Norway. Nights were spent in gyms, kindergartens or swimming baths on own mats, there where no accompanying service teams, no closed streets during the racing day... The performance expectations were turned upside down. It's not just about physical fitness but also about who can master this huge challenge in their head. Women become dreaded opponents of men. Ideal age is 40 - that's when mind and body are equally strong.

This inspiring new film from runner and cinematographer John Burkett documents his adventures into a new life free of his destructive past and into a world on the run. At age thirty, newly sober, out walking his dog he decided to take what became the first of many runs. “No exercise I have ever tried did I really enjoy. So what is the difference with running? It can be so hard but still I crave it. Using up hours every week but still I feel it’s important to keep balance. Is it spiritual, is it just for the competitive, or is it primal, woven into every gene in our body? So why do we do it? Why do we run?”

Rhino Shield Movie documents Veterans Empowered To Protect African Wildlife’s (VETPAW) counter-poaching operations in South Africa. Filmmaker Billy Ward focuses on VETPAW’s dedication to the endangered rhino and local communities. Rhino Shield provides an uncensored view of the work VETPAW is doing in the field. This film is merely a glimpse of the work being done by the organization. Along with fighting for animal rights, VETPAW employs and empowers post 911 veterans by allowing team members to use their training in the field. They also engage with and educate local communities. The humility of these men and women is incomparable. Rhino Shield is the untold story of those who risk their lives to preserve our global environment.

In 2007, Beau attempted to paddle 4000kms from one side of Africa to the other. Starting in Mozambique, he continued along the Southern African coast, allowing five months to complete the voyage. Battling surf, deep sea swell, and too many days waiting for the wind, Beau only completed 2000kms of the original plan.

This is a country of gold, diamonds, and great natural wonders. An ancient land undergoing a dramatic political change. A place where wild animals and modern high-rise cities exist side-by-side, where great deserts contrast with lush farmlands. Visit Johannesburg a city built on gold, and Durban where spices of the East mingle with the influence of the Zulu people. View Cape Town from the summit of Table Mountain and fly over the dramatic Drakensburg Mountains. Take a photo safari at the Londolozi Game Reserve where elephants and lions roam freely in the African wilderness. Out of the conflicts of the past is emerging a new country, a land of amazing natural beauty; one of the world's best-kept secrets.

The story of anti-apartheid activist John Harris - who was hanged after a fatal bombing in Johannesburg in 1964 - told by those who knew him best and through newly discovered home movies.