Narrator (voice over)
A documentary of insect life in meadows and ponds, using incredible close-ups, slow motion, and time-lapse photography. It includes bees collecting nectar, ladybugs eating mites, snails mating, spiders wrapping their catch, a scarab beetle relentlessly pushing its ball of dung uphill, endless lines of caterpillars, an underwater spider creating an air bubble to live in, and a mosquito hatching.
Every year, thousands of German citizens travel to India, hoping to have a spiritual awakening of their own. In turn, they end up taking bits and pieces of Indian culture back home with them, creating a distorted version of Indian religion that’s practiced widely across Europe. The number of yoga institutes, ashrams, and Sanskrit institutes in Germany indicates that younger generations are far from giving up on this trend. Some are so enamored by this version of Indian culture that they travel thousands of kilometres to meet their spiritual advisors in tents, attend yoga sessions at 5 in the morning, and, in some cases, even adopt Indian names and clothes to try and connect more with this Eastern way of living. But exactly how prevalent is this trend?
For four years (1977-1981) Esaias Baitel documented a violent Parisian neo-Nazi gang. Having gained their trust, he was able to get close to them. Living among the gang members, he witnessed horrific events, and while hiding his real identity, he photographed a one-of-a-kind collection of gripping stills. Over thirty years have passed. Esaias Baitel has laid his camera down. He returns to the dark nights he spent in the City of Lights, the city where he lived a double life, going back and forth from the gang to the young family he had just started.
The face of stone. About the natural beauty of Ural gemstones, about the unparalleled beauty of pieces and jewellery made by Russian master jewellers. Malachite was used in the furnishing of the lounge room at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, which is why it is called the Malachite Room. Also featured are malachite items made using the complex technique of Russian mosaic. This semi-precious stone became widely used by craftsmen after the discovery of huge malachite deposits in the Demidov mines in the Urals.
It was one of the great crimes of the Second World War: from 1941 to 1944, a total of 872 days, the siege and starvation of Leningrad by the German Wehrmacht on Hitler's orders lasted. Over a million people fell victim to the blockade, most of them dying of hunger. Countless of these starving people wrote diaries with the last of their strength, and cameramen filmed in the paralyzed city. Evidence from the hell of the siege, many of the film recordings, but above all the written memories on which this documentary on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the liberation is based, remained under lock and key after the war. The voices of those who had suffered through this terrible time should not be heard by anyone, because they did not fit the pathos of the Leningrad heroic song that was officially sung. Most of the recordings come from women. The writers feared neither the enemy nor the Communist Party or Stalin, who often proved incompetent in providing for the population.
Amidst the grand walls of the Forbidden City, the film takes us on a deep journey through the ceremonial life of the Chinese emperor, unveiling the secrets and intrigues of concubines, eunuchs, and palace maids. As the West begins to influence China in the late 19th century, the dynamics within the city shift dramatically. The film highlights the preservation and restoration of invaluable treasures and paintings, culminating in the creation of the Palace Museum. With insights from renowned China scholar, Jonathan Spence, this is an intimate exploration of the rich cultural and historical tapestry that makes up the heart of ancient China.
