Gigantic opencast mines in Brazil, Europe’s biggest steel mill in southern Italy and landscape parks in western Germany: exploitation and pollution on the one hand, slow recovery from decades of industrial use on the other. The film gives an idea of the massive impact of the global steel industry on people and the environment
Prosperity on the one side, misery on the other: just how directly the two can be connected comes to light in Luzia Schmid’s film about the meteoric rise of her hometown of Zug upon becoming a tax haven.
Flames devastated Brazil’s Amazon rainforests in summer 2019. When the world’s green lungs burn, experts and international politicians suddenly take notice. Because protecting this globally unique ecosystem is of existential importance. We investigate the unfolding ecological and humanitarian catastrophe.
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.
A story about a man who dedicated his life to preserving the Church but instead led it into its greatest crisis: Pope Benedict XVI. After the worldwide sexual abuse scandal became public, Benedict resigned in 2013. An analysis of the failings of an institution that believes in absolute truth as it struggles to come to terms with modern democratic society.
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…
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.
In 2021, the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia celebrates its 20th anniversary. We take a look at the structure of this virtual giant. Who are its creators, who are the authors who write up to 12,000 articles every day? Are they representative of the knowledge of this world and will they soon be superseded by artificial intelligence?
