Michael Cockerell sheds new light on the tragi-comedy of the 1970s by focusing on some of its most controversial characters. With fresh filming and new interviews, along with a treasure trove of rare archive, the film presents the inside story of giant personalities who make today's public figures look sadly dull in comparison. The well-known journalist revisits some of his films on the big characters who helped shaped the 1970s in Britain. Both tragic and comic, it highlights just how much our world has changed in four decades.
Extranjeros de sí mismos
Pianist Richard Glazier offers a unique view of Broadway and Hollywood music using fascinating interviews, piano performances and commentary in this broadcast special.
The political ad "Peace Little Girl" aired during the 1964 presidential campaign ushered in a new era of the television attack ad. The campaign also reshaped the American political landscape in other significant ways ultimately ending up with the establishment of the contemporary geopolitical map of red and blue states. Includes interviews with historians and participants in the campaign.
Filmmaker Irene Lusztig unearths a dark family secret in search of answers and reconciliation in her breakthrough feature documentary, "Reconstruction."
The impact of Marx on the 20th century has been all-pervasive and world-wide. This program looks at the man, at the roots of his philosophy, at the causes and explanations of his philosophical development, and at its most direct outcome: the failed Soviet Union.
It was perhaps the most spectacular flourishing of imagination and achievement in recorded history. In the Fourth and Fifth Centuries BC, the Greeks built an empire that stretched across the Mediterranean from Asia to Spain. They laid the foundations of modern science, politics, warfare and philosophy, and produced some of the most breathtaking art and architecture the world has ever seen. This series, narrated by Liam Neeson, recounts the rise, glory, demise and legacy of the empire that marked the dawn of Western civilization. The story of this astonishing civilization is told through the lives of heroes of ancient Greece. The latest advances in computer and television technology rebuild the Acropolis, recreate the Battle of Marathon and restore the grandeur of the Academy, where Socrates, Plato and Aristotle forged the foundation of Western thought.
Music documentary about Billo Frómeta by director Rafael Marziano Tinoco from Venezuela.
In Uganda, AIDS-infected mothers have begun writing what they call Memory Books for their children. Aware of the illness, it is a way for the family to come to terms with the inevitable death that it faces. Hopelessness and desperation are confronted through the collaborative effort of remembering and recording, a process that inspires unexpected strength and even solace in the face of death.
Professor Saul David uses the BBC archive to chart the history of the world's most destructive war, by chronicling how the story of the battle has changed. As new information has come to light, and forgotten stories are remembered, the history of World War Two evolves. The BBC has followed that evolution, and this programme examines the most important stories, and how our understanding of them has been re-defined since the war ended over 70 years ago.
The long-suppressed story of 12,000 Japanese Americans who dared to resist the U.S. government's program of mass incarceration during World War II. Branded as 'disloyals' and re-imprisoned at Tule Lake Segregation Center, they continued to protest in the face of militarized violence, and thousands renounced their U.S. citizenship. Giving voice to experiences that have been marginalized for over 70 years, this documentary challenges the nationalist, one-sided ideal of wartime 'loyalty.'
Mountain men Joseph R Walker was probably the first non-Indian to see Yosemite, in 1833, but not until the California militia entered the valley rounding up the Ahwahneechee Indians was the region discovered. In June, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Yosemite Grant, making it a California State Park. It became famous through the writings of Horace Greeley and the efforts of John Muir. Cinematographer Dennis Burkhart captures in this video the magnificence of Yosemite Valley (El Capitan, Bridalveil Fall, Half Dome), the High Sierra (John Muir Trail, Tuolumne Meadows, Tioga Pass) and the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias. The camera catches the wildlife that roams the 1,1170 square miles of Yosemite, i.e. the mule deer, mountain lion, black bear, coyotes, bighorn sheep, and the rare peregrine falcon. This video reveals why 3.8 million visitors come each year and stand before awe-inspiring panoramas they will never forget.
Dr Janina Ramirez travels across glaciers and through the lava fields of Iceland to find out about one of the most compelling of the great Viking stories - the Laxdaela Saga. This hour-long film explores how the unique literary achievements of the Saga writers were possible at a time of such immense cultural, political and religious upheaval.
Stonehenge is an icon of prehistoric British culture, an enigma that has seduced archaeologists and tourists for centuries. Why is it here? What is its significance? And which forces inspired its creators? Now a group of international archaeologists led by the University of Birmingham and the Ludwig Boltzman Institute in Vienna believe that a new state-of-the-art approach is the key to unlocking Stonehenge's secrets. For four years the team have surveyed and mapped every monument, both visible and invisible, across ten square kilometres of the sacred landscape to create the most complete digital picture of Stonehenge and the surrounding area over millennia. Operation Stonehenge takes the viewer on a prehistoric journey from 8000BC to 2500BC as the scientists uncover the very origins of Stonehenge, learning why this landscape is sacred, preserved and has been revered by following generations.
Examines the early 1980s Hong Kong filmmaking community. Tony Rayns interviews some of the new generation of filmmakers and figures from the wider film culture.
A look at contemporary Paris through the lens of theories and ideologies of the past two centuries, with a particular focus on the utopian socialist ideas of Charles Fourier.
During the Vietnam War, the CIA recruited Hmong tribesmen in the hills of Laos to fight the Communists, then brought them as refugees to America. Forty years later in California, someone who might be a CIA operative approaches a Hmong human rights activist about buying weapons to continue the fight.
A documentary about the history of settler groups that came to New Zealand from Europe.
The Black Panther star uncovers the astounding true story of the Agoji, Benin’s female army – or as Europeans labeled them, the 'Amazons – then finds the last warrior left alive.
This documentary explores the creation of the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin as designed by architect Peter Eisenman. Reaction of the German public to the completed memorial is also shown.