A train speeds through the country on its way to Berlin, then gradually slows down as it pulls into the station. It is very early in the morning, about 5:00 AM, and the great city is mostly quiet. But before long there are some signs of activity, and a few early risers are to be seen on the streets. Soon the new day is well underway. It's just a typical day in Berlin, but a day full of life and energy.
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…
The folkloric group "Nzale," founded in 1979 in Bangui, practices a traditional dance called "M'baka M'Bokou," which means "strength" and is a symbol of victory. It is a battle dance: each dancer wears the skin of the animal he wishes to incarnate. One dancer stands in the middle of a circle and fights the other dancers who come to confront him one after another.
Réunion Island: An Overview is documentary short film created by Brian Iannone. It is a documentary-style video that features the island of Réunion located in the Indian Ocean. The video shows scenes of the most known natural and tourist attractions in Réunion including its beaches, volcanoes (Piton de la Fournaise) and wildlife such as the "Endormi" chameleon.
The EU is investing billions to establish African states as its new border guards. It also supports dictatorships that close their borders in return.
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.
In 1981, seven Libyan exiles formed the core opposition group to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Thirty years later, they are back to their country only to inherit the mess he left. The film is an intricate blend of rare first-hand accounts, propaganda archival material turned on its head, evocative cinematography and an untold history of a country.
Der lange Weg ans Licht
The newsreel series Jornal Português (1938-1951) was produced for the Secretariat of National Propaganda (SPN/SNI) by the "Portuguese Newsreel Society" (SPAC), under the technical supervision of António Lopes Ribeiro. It was conceived and employed as part of the propaganda machinery of Salazar's regime. Screened in cinema theatres prior to the main feature film, each issue of Jornal had approximately ten minutes in length and covered a variety of official government acts, national political news, major sports events and other assorted social and cultural affairs. Jornal Português is not only an indispensable document for the history of Estado Novo's propaganda, but also an unparalleled audiovisual archive of 1940s Portugal.
In northern Morocco lies the Spanish enclave of Melilla: Europe on African Land. On the mountain above live over a thousand hopeful African migrants, watching the land border, a fence system separating Morocco and Spain. Abou from Mali is one of them – the protagonist in front of the camera, as well as the person behind it. For over a year, he has ceaselessly persisted in attempting to jump the fence.
On the African plains, where only the strong survive, one big cat rules supreme. This is life in the raw: savage, beautiful and unforgettable. During the eight years that Jurgen Jozefowicz filmed a pride of lions in South Africa's Kruger National Park, he won the trust of the dominant male and, astonishingly, was accepted into the pride. This is his story. How does it feel to live amidst a group of the most feared predators on the African continent as they fight to survive in a harsh, unforgiving world? Jurgen's film shows what it's like and is the result of his remarkable adventures. Jurgen is one of the world's premier wildlife photographers. His story of his life with these lions is one that spans a period of political struggles, disease and drought, showing the highs and the lows of life in the lion pride.
Beatrice is an 18-year-old young reporter with the Children’s Radio Foundation (CRF) in Lusaka, Zambia. She is part of the Unite4Climate Radio Initiative, a project which uses the power of radio to challenge mindsets and shift behaviours around environmental protection.
The film is an evocative story of the tenuous relationship between a charcoal burner and forests. The film follows Lloyd on his journey from burning charcoal to setting up a micro-nursery selling trees to his neighbouring community – a brief window into his deep rooted connection to forests around Livingstone.
In partnership with the MasterCard Foundation and local partner Mwanza Youth and Children Network, the young reporters produce and broadcast radio shows that illustrate how farming can lead to individual prosperity and country-wide economic growth and teach the business and finance skills necessary to manage these small agricultural enterprises.
There are thousands of people working as scrap workers in Agbogbloshie, Accra, Ghana, and Abdallah is one of them. Like the majority, Abdallah is from the northern part of the country and behind him, there is a big family awaits support. The air pollution caused by the open burning of electronic scraps has raised Muntaka’s concern, who is trying to stop them from burning…
Hutton's most impressive work ... the filmmaker's style takes on an assertive edge that marks his maturity. The landscape has a majesty that serves to reflect the meditative interiority of the artist independent of any human presence. ... New York is framed in the dark nights of a lonely winter. The pulse of street life finds no role in NEW YORK PORTRAIT; the dense metropolitan population and imposing urban locale disappear before Hutton's concern for the primal force of a universal presence. With an eye for the ordinary, Hutton can point his camera toward the clouds finding flocks of birds, or turn back to the simple objects around his apartment struggling to elicit a personal intuition from their presence. ... Hutton finds a harmonious, if at times melancholy, rapport with the natural elements that retain their grace in spite of the city's artificial environment. The city becomes a ghost town that the filmmaker transforms into a vehicle reflecting his personal mood.
Remember the culture clash in THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY? This time it's real. One of the most ancient cultures on our planet is undergoing a major change. The Ju/Hoansi Bushmen in Namibia are not allowed to hunt anymore and need to converge with our so called “civilized” lifestyle. For the first time the Ju/Hoansi Bushmen travel through the Kalahari and then right into the heart of Europe. What starts as a look at their fascinating culture becomes an even more fascinating look at our Western lifestyle. A warm and humorous reflection of our habits through the eyes of people who are about to give up their million year old traditions.
Sven Nykvist, best known as Ingmar Bergman cinematographer, made this film as a tribute to his father who was a missionary in Kongo in the early 20th century. The story of his father Gustav Natanael Nykvist is told through his own photos, letters, and films. Director & cinematographer: Sven Nykvist. Narrators: Liv Ullmann & Sean Connery Produced by Ingmar Bergman (Cinematograph AB). Digitally restored in 2022.
Between 1950 and 1958, John Marshall made four expeditions to film the Ju/'hoansi (a group of !Kung Bushmen) of the Nyae Nyae region of Namibia (then South West Africa). During this time, Marshall shot over 300,000 feet of 16mm film (157 hours). He later produced a total of 23 films exclusively from this footage. In this short film, children tempt fate by playing with scorpions.
For ten years three guerilla girls in Mozambique risked their lives in the struggle for freedom in a civil war. It was back then filmed by a BBC newsteam. Ike Bertels decided to search for those women and film them again.