Free Will

Considers marvels of modern science: contact lenses, kitchen gadgets, bubble bath (with cheesecake), diatoms, Boulder Dam.

Are we becoming Plastic People? Our ground-breaking feature documentary investigates our addiction to plastic and the growing threat of microplastics on human health. Almost every bit of plastic ever made ends up ground down into "microplastics". These microscopic particles drift in the air, float in the water and sit in the soil. And now, leading scientists are finding them in our bodies: organs, blood, brain tissue and even the placentas of new mothers. What is the impact of these invisible invaders on our health? Ziya Tong, author and science journalist, makes it personal by visiting leading scientists and undergoing experiments in her home, on her food, and on her body.

For more than 30 years, scientist, broadcaster and environmental activist David Suzuki has served as the host of The Nature of Things, a CBC program that is seen in more than forty nations. Suzuki Speaks is an hour of thought-provoking television. David Suzuki delivers one of the most powerful messages of his career - the relationship between the four "sacred" elements and their influence on the "interconnectedness" we feel individually, with each other and with the rest of the world.

A documentary produced in 1979 to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Albert Einstein. Narrated and hosted by Peter Ustinov and written by Nigel Calder.

With a wealth of fantastic archive footage and a series of revealing interviews with those who had first-hand experience, filmmaker Vicki Lesley tells the turbulent story of the West’s love-hate relationship with a nuclear power over the past seventy years. Capturing both the tantalising promise and the repeated disappointments of this singular technology, the film reveals how the post-war, romantic fantasy of an Atom-powered future developed into the stormy, on-off relationship still playing out today. A tale of scientific passion and political intrigue all wrapped up in the packaging of a sentimental screen melodrama.

The Faraway Nearby follows the tragic life of pioneer physicist Joseph Weber, whose pursuit of gravitational waves takes him on a dizzying journey from the height of acclaim to the depths of despair and disdain when he breaks the cardinal rule of science and clings to his ideas though his results can't be duplicated. Physicists, artists, and other creatives explore the emotional side of discovery and question whether the risk is worth the journey.

A giant ball of gas and raw energy with a temperature of up to 15 million degrees, the sun is the origin of life on earth and influences an infinite number of natural phenomena. This documentary is dedicated to the search for the significance of our home star for mankind, science and nature. Researchers at the American Space Agency NASA, the Canary Islands observatories, and the hottest and coldest places on earth share their insights. We can expect an emotional journey through science and history, peppered with human stories, at the end of which the complex bandwidth of life is revealed. Never before in the history of mankind has it been more important to uncover the secrets of the sun. Because for our earth, the sun is not just any star. It is the ultimate star.

A poetic look at the life and legacy of legendary author Philip K. Dick (1928-1982), who wrote over a hundred short stories and 44 novels of mind-bending sci-fi, exploring themes of authority, drugs, theology, mental illness and much more.

Mostashregh

What forms might life take in the Solar System and beyond? In the Academy's newest original planetarium show, see how a deeper understanding of Earth might help us locate other living worlds, light years away.

Le besoin de croyance et le besoin de vérité

Nel silenzio del parco

For the first time since the legendary Apollo missions over 50 years ago, humans are once again setting out for the Moon on April 1, 2026. NASA’s Artemis II mission marks the beginning of a new era in space exploration, and Germany will play a key role. This documentary follows the four astronauts during their preparations and offers exclusive insights into the Orion spacecraft. German astronauts Alexander Gerst and Matthias Maurer, along with other space experts, explain how the mission will proceed and why it is being undertaken. It's a journey that blends science, adventure, and the fundamental question: Why do people risk their lives to reach other celestial bodies and distant worlds?

In this two-part Channel 4 series, Professor Richard Dawkins challenges what he describes as 'a process of non-thinking called faith'. He describes his astonishment that, at the start of the 21st century, religious faith is gaining ground in the face of rational, scientific truth. Science, based on scepticism, investigation and evidence, must continuously test its own concepts and claims. Faith, by definition, defies evidence: it is untested and unshakeable, and is therefore in direct contradiction with science. In addition, though religions preach morality, peace and hope, in fact, says Dawkins, they bring intolerance, violence and destruction. The growth of extreme fundamentalism in so many religions across the world not only endangers humanity but, he argues, is in conflict with the trend over thousands of years of history for humanity to progress to become more enlightened and more tolerant.

Shot during an NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) seminar in Berlin, a group fluxuates between guided meditation and discussion on consciousness and self-acceptance. Neuro-linguistic programming is a set of techniques and beliefs that are used primarily towards personal development. NLP is based on the idea that mind, body, and language create an individual's perception of the world, and an individuals behaviors can be changed by "perceiving and feeling yourself". Rapport focuses on the staging of the self that takes place during this kind of group therapy.

This refreshingly frank and impartial study of the discovery and development of the notorious hallucinogenic drug is notably free of moral judgmental, and features contributions from such legendary heroes of psychedelia as Albert Hoffman - the Swiss scientist who discovered the drug - Aldous Huxley - author of 'The Doors of Perception' - Ken Kesey - author of 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

A psychedelic odyssey into the fabric of the universe, guided by a filmmaker’s immersive practical experiments that transcend into a deeply hypnotic audio-visual experience of awe and human connection to the natural world.

This remastered, rare, local production from the 80s is an unfiltered look into the mind and heart of the world-renowned folk artist Howard Finster. Walking and talking in his Paradise Garden, Finster gives insight into his visions, Faith, and artwork. He even sings and plays the banjo. Dr. George Pullen interviews Finster. And in this case, the word "interview" means that Dr. Pullen just lets Finster talk. And it's pure gold.

The Voronezh Nuclear Power Plant reactor; Novgorod’s archaeological excavations. Archaeologist Boris Rybakov on importance of historical science. Lenin’s Materialism & Empirio-Criticism. The first university dept of natural compound chemistry in the Soviet Union, located in Tashkent, Uzbek SSR. Agriculturalist Pavel Lukyanenko develops winter wheat varieties at Krasnodar Research Institute of Agriculture. French physicist Hubert Curien on USSR–France collaboration in nuclear physics. Foreign members of the USSR Academy of Sciences: Albert Einstein, Max Planck, Niels Bohr; theoretical physicist Igor Tamm on nuclear transformations in planetary & meteoritic matter, study of the Moon in relation to the Earth’s evolution. Dedicated to the 250th anniversary of the founding of the Academy of Sciences. Archival film, photographs, manuscripts, books, interviews from Academy members, explore its role in the development of science, economics, and its prominent figures throughout its history…

“Ramón y Cajal: drawings on the retina” is a documentary about the Nobel Prize winner that explores, from a contemporary perspective, his fascination with images as a bridge between the reality of the physical world and that created in the brain, with a new integrative approach to his artistic and scientific facets and his legacy, told through the experiences and points of view of researchers, artists, historians, family members, and other experts who consider Cajal a visionary who transcended his own science. In one of the laboratories, a machine answers Cajal's last question: how are images formed in the brain?