In 2013 an oil painting attributed to Leonardo da Vinci appears in Lugano: the portrait of Isabella d’Este, Marchioness of Mantua. The owner of the painting, Emidia Cecchini, is about to sell it for 140 million euros when Italy accuses her of illegal export. A search for evidence of an alleged art theft.
The distance between human and nature, which leads us to make catastrophic miscalculations in how we treat our environment, can be overcome with the help of preserved animal specimens. This is the conviction of the three taxidermists we accompany as they prepare for the European Taxidermy Championships.
At the Mosaik art studio in Berlin, artists with disabilities are absorbed in their work. Filmmaker Sabine Herpich observes the artists in the course of creation and directs her gaze at the institution itself: its processes, staff and spaces. The film succeeds in maintaining its focus on the art itself rather than the handicaps of its creators.
From the perspective of his son Jiří Mucha, the film tells the story of Czech artist Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939), one of the pioneers of the Art Nouveau movement. Featuring previously unpublished letters and diary entries, the film creates an intense and intimate atmosphere that takes audiences back to Mucha’s world.
Rising seas will be one of the biggest challenges we face in the next few centuries. Island states will disappear, coastlines will shift. On the basis of scientists’ predictions, billions of dollars are being invested in coastal protection measures. But not everything can be protected.
Julia is born in a Russian prison. The film follows the girl’s development from the first year of her life until after she turns seven. Three women take it in turns to look after her. They all want the best for Julia, but they don’t always agree on what that actually means…
At the Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) in Davos, scientists investigate the conditions that trigger avalanches and the impact climate change is having on the formation and nature of avalanches. We spend a winter season following scientists, snow profilers and researchers as they work in the Alps.
Until recently, an elephant was killed in Africa every 15 minutes. Today, nature protection has risen to defend itself. Thanks to Western funding, military training, and cutting-edge high tech, rangers are cracking down on poachers. However, this aggressive militarisation has a dark side. An alarming view behind the scenes of Africa’s armed conservation efforts that Western aid has actively propelled.
Layla and Ramsis, German-Palestinian siblings living in Germany, face a family tragedy far away in the besieged Gaza Strip: their father, his new wife and his five children are killed by an Israeli missile. Trying to come to terms with their grief at the loss of their stepfamily, they are forced to redefine their personal and political identity.
At the age of 14, Ekhlas was captured by the IS. Today, the 19-year-old Yazidi is a survivor who campaigns internationally for recognition of the Yazidi genocide. We accompany her on a journey to Iraq, where she is reunited with her sister who also managed to escape IS captivity five years later.
What happens within our system of values when economic interests and people’s lives become intertwined through tragedy?
He was a patron of science, a reformer, and might even be called the first modern ruler. And yet he was also brutal and power-hungry. Frederick II of Hohenstaufen (1194–1250) was an exceptional figure on the Roman-German imperial throne.
