Ai Weiwei’s middle finger – deleted. Pillar of Shame – removed. The film Revolution of Our Times – banned. Bit by bit, critical art is being eliminated in Hong Kong. How are the creatives reacting? Are they giving in or fighting back? Based on the examples of various artists, the film shows how protest and art are still possible despite censorship.
Immanuel Kant was already an important philosopher during his lifetime. Three hundred years after his birth, the film shows for the first time Kant’s close connection to his native Königs-berg, a place he never left. Everything he knew came from books or everyday observations. Using sophisticated animation techniques, the film takes us back to 18th-century Königsberg between Europe and the Russian Empire.
Switzerland at night is fascinating and anything but dark. And lots of people are still awake. On our journey from dusk to dawn, we take viewers on helicopter and drone flights from the Engadin to Lake Geneva, and we visit people still out and about deep into the night.
They are refuges for animals and humans, have aesthetic value and are the source of numerous myths and legends: Europe’s great lakes. From Finland to the Anatolia, we learn more about the special features of European lakes and their importance for the ecosystem. Many of these habitats are at risk. What strategies are there to preserve these bodies of water?
Algorithms decide whether we are creditworthy, entitled to social welfare and which partner is the right one for us. But what happens if algorithms make mistakes? We tell the stories of people whose lives have been turned upside down after algorithms misjudged their situations. Who is responsible if AI turns out to be a curse rather than a blessing?
In 1693, a huge earthquake destroyed the city of Noto in south-eastern Sicily. The decades that followed saw the emergence on a new site of a unique Baroque city influenced by styles from all over Europe. Five citizens of Noto introduce us to the city’s artistic and cultural treasures and take us to the origins of the “barocco siciliano”.
His mother blames communism, his uncle an inheritance dispute, the others remain silent. Film director Dieu Hao Do examines his fragmented family, which has scattered across three continents since the Vietnam War. Is communism to blame for their estrangement?
Africa’s fashion avant-garde is diverse and thriving. In the continent’s major cities as well as in the African diaspora, creatives are setting trends with provocative, visionary designs and transforming the world’s often clichéd perception of Africa. Eight exciting designers offer us a glimpse of the creations of tomorrow!
Dyslexia is a complex condition whose causes are still not fully understood. At least 5% of all children and adolescents worldwide have difficulty reading and spelling. This film looks at the psychologically stressful situation these children face. It showcases success stories and finds out how researchers are searching for causes and treatments.
Civil society and the law system in Russia are under severe pressure from the state. Human rights lawyers have become the last frontier between state violence and society. Mikhail Benyash and a network of like-minded lawyers defend those who dare to speak up. They fight for justice in an increasingly suffocating dictatorship.
An investigative journey to the American west, which is increasingly threatened by water scarcity. Scientific data shows that this region is drying out, with devastating consequences for communities and the environment. Conflicts of biblical proportions are already emerging – defined by the struggle for our most precious resource.
Hambach Forest in Germany was supposed to be cleared to expand an open-cast lignite mine. In 2018, during a large-scale police operation to evict activists occupying the forest, film student Steffen Meyn was killed in a tragic accident. Based on his film footage, we chronicle Steffen’s journey and follow him into the activists’ world.
