In the Footsteps of Marco Polo is a 2008 PBS documentary film detailing Denis Belliveau and Francis O'Donnell's 1993 retracing of Marco Polo's journey from Venice to Anatolia, Persia, India and China.
The gang embarks on a trade mission to India. Equipped with three old British cars and a range of uniquely British products, they set off on an epic road trip across one of the world's most fascinating and challenging countries.
Cameras follow David Beckham as he attempts to play a football match on all seven continents and get back in time for his own UNICEF fundraising match at Old Trafford. On the journey, he discovers what football means to the many different people he meets and plays with, as well as some of the universal truths about the game itself, including its ability to inspire and unite people.
The Romans saw the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World as the crowning achievements of their predecessors. Through stunning on-location and re-created visuals, learn how and why they were built and how they dazzled the ancients.
Beautifully filmed by New Zealand nature photographer Richard Sidey over the past decade around the polar regions, Speechless: The Polar Realm is a visual meditation of light, life, loss and wonder at the ends of the globe. This is the second film in Sidey’s non-verbal trilogy which is comprised of: - Landscapes at the World’s Ends (2010) - Speechless: The Polar Realm (2015) - Elementa (2020)
After the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004, widowed women struggled to receive aid due to their social status. Following the story of Mrs. Manjula along with many other women from Tamil Nadu, the challenges faced by millions of widows across the country are illuminated. From being ostracized to denied basic rights and economic opportunities, widows in India endure a cycle of discrimination and marginalization. “Kalangarai” meaning "lighthouse" in Tamil, is an organization dedicated to empowering women through initiatives such as self-help groups and educational programs. Throughout the film, "Lighthouse" illustrates the emotional journeys and resilience of these women, as well as the active change that Kalangarai strives to achieve. This documentary urges global awareness and support for widowed women’s rights, as the women’s struggles depict the intersectionality of gender, poverty, and social injustice.
The Kumbh Mela is a great roving Hindu spiritual festival that has moved around India for more than four thousand years, erecting temporary cities along the Ganges River.
Dance and prostitution play the same role for Cristhian’s body. Virtuosity, desire, technique, and sex intertwine, granting coherence to a way of life that offers many answers to few questions. A leitmotiv that reconciles opposites and contradictions. Answers that are sometimes painful, like all truths.
The anti-Slumdog Millionaire in documentary form, "Buzz" charts the tumultuous rise of India's most famous tattoo artist as he struggles to overcome the demons of his poverty-stricken childhood through art.
Meena is a documentary film about sex trafficking in India based on a true story.
Moving between two extremes - the intimate verite drama of the Miss India pageant's rigorous beauty "bootcamp" and the intense regime of a militant Hindu fundamentalist camp for young girls. The World Before Her delivers a provocative portrait of India and its current cultural conflicts during a key transitional era in the country's modern history.
Lord Louis Mountbatten arrives in India in March 1947 as Britain's Last Viceroy. He is committed to transfer administrative and authoritative power to an independent and sovereign India. Six months later India indeed was set free, but it had also been partitioned and overwhelmed by an orgy of sectarian violence involving Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs.
Have you ever wanted to take a year traveling the globe? 10-year-old Unai and his family do just that on an extraordinary mission to photograph an endangered animal on each continent in its natural environment. A documentary made by nature photographer Andoni Canela with his family is narrated by his young son who shares his experiences and observations as they camp in jungles, deserts, and glaciers in search of wolves, elephants, lions, bison, penguins, hornbills and crocodiles. Seen through the boy's eyes, their journey across all continents conveys an innocent and unconditional love of nature and reveals an urgency to protect the delicate diversity of our planet's wildlife. Breathtaking cinematography and an insider's view on the daily life of a professional photographer on assignment enhance the documentary's story of a family learning, playing, and living on a trip of a lifetime together.
Rocky Braat went to India as a disillusioned American tourist. When he met a group of children with HIV/AIDS, he decided to stay. He never could have imagined the obstacles he would face. Or the love he would find.
In Bundelkhand, India, a revolution is in the making among the poorest of the poor, as the fiery women of the Gulabi Gang empower themselves and take up the fight against gender violence, caste oppression and widespread corruption.
"Land of Whispers" invites you to visit arguably the most unique and isolated travel destination in the world - not to criticize, but to observe and listen. Aside from usual highlights such as Pyongyang or Arirang, this unique one-man documentary brings you to areas such as Chongjin or Wonson, still virtually unknown to even google or wikipedia. There, I attempt to pierce through the ever-present 'national mythology' and as much as possible, I try to connect with people - such as the waitress mesmerized by tablet computers, or a tour guide cautiously fascinated by modern pop culture.
In the holy city of Varanasi, 16-year-old Ali has one of the most dangerous jobs in the world – catching poisonous snakes. The boy balances life and death on a daily basis to support his family.
A Japanese family having tea.
When Lena and Ulli start the engine of their old Land Rover, Lady Terés, they have a plan: to drive from Hamburg to South Africa in six months. What they don't know yet is that they won't ever get there. Two totally different characters, jammed together in two square meters of space for almost two years, they experience what it really means to travel: leaving your comfort zone for good.
During its nine-month-long season, the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express makes over 60 journeys, covering 150,000 kilometres, with the majority of trips between London and Venice. The train is comprised of 17 unique 1920s carriages that have transported a host of elite individuals across Italy, Switzerland, and Turkey for more than a century. This documentary follows the stories of the staff and passengers as the train makes its way across Europe, with some customers having paid more than £2,000 for the privilege.