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.
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…
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.
Virunga National Park with its unique mountain gorillas is in danger: Rebels and poachers are threatening this paradise in the Congo. Veterinarian Marlene Zähner trains rangers and highly specialised dogs to track down poachers.
The unique eco-system along the shores of the Paraná River in South America is under threat. We travel to South America and meet people who are fighting for their future and the conservation of the Paraná region.
Only around 4,000 Kalash people still live at the foot of the Himalayas in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. They practise a polytheistic faith and a highly traditional way of life, a far away from the modernity of the big cities. But how long can this seclusion and the preservation of their culture be maintained?
The Putin era in Russian politics began on 31 December 1999, after Yeltsin’s resignation and shortly before the millennium celebrations. The children born on that day have now come of age. They have only ever known ex-KGB man Vladimir Putin at the pinnacle of power. What do the Putin generation think and feel? How do they want to live in the future?
With the explosion of the economic crisis, thousands of Spanish horses were abandoned by their owners. A group of girls has gathered around a horsewoman to give these unwanted animals a new lease of life. A cinematic novel about a childhood on the countryside and the first encounter with death.
Shimshal is a village in Pakistan, in the middle of the Karakorum, one of the world’s highest mountain ranges. For a number of years, local women have been training for the first time as mountain guides at the Mountaineering School. We accompany a group of young women on their way up the 5300-metre-high Mount Shifkteen Sar and into a new life.
What does the journey to school mean for children? What do they see, what do they experience? Children around the world travel to school in a variety of fascinating, surprising ways. Meet our little heroes in South Africa, Jordan, Laos, Germany, USA and many other countries on their sometimes long and arduous, joyful and adventurous ways to school.
