Camel Bells of the Kanas Lake

Gordon Buchanan takes an epic journey across the Gobi Desert on one of the world’s most iconic, yet least understood, animals – camels. 

When a Mongolian nomadic family's newest camel colt is rejected by its mother, a musician is needed for a ritual to change her mind.

People call those who haul camels to and from desert areas and take camel transportation as their profession camel caravans. However, with the development of modern transportation, the camel's transportation function in the desert has gradually disappeared, and the camel caravans have faded out of the historical stage. The documentary tells the story of the last generation of camel caravans in Minqin County, Gansu Province.

The real story about the camel ride around Mallorca, that journalist Miguel Vidal and painter Gustavo Peñalver did in 1964. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. This is one of them.

Robyn Davidson, famous for her solo expedition across the west Australian deserts by camel in the 1970s, presents this documentary telling the story of Australia's camels and the people who brought them here.

The extraordinary and storied life of Topsy, a bactrian camel, whose career spanned the military, the mines, the movies and more.

Undercover: Inside China's Digital Gulag

A documentary of the life of camel herders and the culture of adopting an orphan camel by "seducing" a mother-camel through a morin khuur (a horse fiddle) melody.

Under the pretext of fighting terrorism or crime, the major powers have embarked on a dangerous race for surveillance technologies. Facial recognition cameras, emotion detectors, citizen rating systems, autonomous drones… A security obsession that in some countries is giving rise to a new form of political regime: numerical totalitarianism. Orwell's nightmare.

Fatima Ali Alhameli was the first Emirati female camel owner to enter her camel in the country’s camel beauty pageant competition and participate in Abu Dhabi’s camel auctions. Her attempts faced stiff opposition from the organisers and society. However, she persisted as she was determined to represent Emirati women in this largely male bastion and keen on proving to the world that her gender would not hold her back. An inspiring film about a woman’s courage and pioneering spirit.

A library on four legs, the world's only existing Camel Library is located in Northern Kenya. As they pass antelopes and giraffes, the heavily loadedcaravan of camels are routinely carrying books through the rough savannah.In the villages with their houses of mud and dung these tenacious desert ships are wishfully awaited by the people of the nomadic Muslim tribes. Under the shade of acacia trees, especially the children are excitedly turning pages of school books, novels and comics. However, 400 kilometers outside of the capital city of Nairobi the local librarians are still struggling with illiteracy, old traditions, insufficient funds, blistering sun and - stubborn camels... This is the story about the Camel Library, about inquisitive children, about the origins of a book and about a camel and an exceptional librarian in the heart of Africa within the UNESCO-world decade of alphabetization.

A report on the detention of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, China.

A relentless chronicle of the tragedy of the Uighurs, an ethnic minority of some eleven million people who live in the Xinjiang region of northwest China, speak a Turkic language and practice the Muslim religion. The Uighurs suffer brutal cultural and political oppression by Xin Jinping's tyrannical government: torture, disappearances, forced labor, re-education of children and adults, mass sterilizations, extensive surveillance and destruction of historical heritage.

In 1994, the oil-rich city of Karamay in Northwest China was the site of a horrible fire that killed nearly 300 schoolchildren. The students were performing for state officials and were told to stand by while the officials exited first. After the fire, the story was heavily censored in the Chinese state media. To this day, the families of Karamay have not been allowed to publicly mourn their children.

When the two children Torarin and Svalin wants to ride horses, their parents buy two camels instead, but realise it's more difficult than they thought and travel to Mongolia to meet the experts.

Α Bengalese architect builds library boats that can bring books to people even during the monsoon season. Α Mongolian author packs two boxes full of books each summer to provide reading material to children in remote areas. Α Kenyan librarian leads caravans of camels loaded with boxes of books to the nomadic tribes bordering Somalia. Despite the heat, wind, rain or snow, they still manage their long journeys. This film about the fascinating world of mobile libraries tells of unusual means of transportation and adventurous travel, of different cultures and lifestyles, of the worries, aspirations and dreams of people in these areas – of books that change lives – and of book lovers, who take on unbelievable challenges in order to provide people in the remotest areas of the world with reading material. A film about the love of literature and the respect for knowledge that accepts no boundaries.

The short film Jamal (1981) by Ibrahim Shaddad is a report from the life of a camel, most of which plays out in a dreary, small room – a sesame mill.

La grande roue

Life on the road in India, showing the traffic, people and animals.

Hamloul is a young race camel forced to retire early due to an injury. Linda Krockenberger, his keeper, is working on raising his confidence again. During a journey across Dubai desert, we’ll discover Hamloul’s unique personality and the deep bond they have developed.