Advanced search

Academy Award-winning film-maker Oliver Stone interviews Russian president Vladimir Putin about divisive issues related to U.S.-Russia relations.

Mama Mirabelle helps a zebra, an elephant and a tiger to understand the nature with her Home Videos.

Time is Money: In high frequency trading the fastest data network makes the deal. Computers trade against computers solely committed to the logic of their algorithms. Real life traders have long left the playing field to the more efficient money bots, leaving behind an uncontrollable financial market in which speculating on crisis is the safest bet and investments have exceeded all realistic dimensions. It all began in the casinos of Las Vegas.

With a yearly revenue of over USD 2.7 billion, Bollywood is flourishing. Yet, the majority of its workers live and work in pitiable, highly insecure and unhygienic conditions. Most struggle to eke out a living and are denied of any basic human rights or dignity. The struggle for survival is not exclusive to the film industry In India. Throughout the country, the fight for a half-decent wage is a constant reality; for the miners of Chhattisgarh to the workers of the Gujrat's textile factories or the tea vendors on the sides of the roads. But, Bollywood has something no other industry has... the dreamers. More films are produced in India than any other country in the world; almost 2,000 films each calendar year. By far dwarfing Hollywood's output. As a culturally significant and prosperous industry it attracts thousands of aspiring artists, actors, dancers and technicians from across the country's wide diaspora of cultures and multifaceted society. Fewer than one percent of those who dream of making it big will even come close to achieving their goal. The vast majority of junior actors, background dancers, stuntmen, assistants, spot boys, light handlers, etc.... move from film to film, assignment to assignment. They have no job security, no benefits, no insurance. The pay is often paltry, delayed and at times there is no payment at all. "the problem is that most people confuse Bollywood with a club of some 50-odd people who are always in the media focus, while the real people who slog are grossly neglected," says Ankit Sharma, a 27-year-old junior actor. It is an industry with overwhelming nepotism. Who you know carries a lot more weight than what you know. The situation for women can be even more desperate. They are often forced to exchange sex for work. While the children of celebrities are groomed for stardom and tailor-made debuts, outsiders have to fend off lecherous men and contend with a grueling routine of auditions and rejections. Conversations with any 'struggler' is filled with; "I have a project in the pipeline" or "talks are happening". There is a constant wait for the slightest sliver of a chance. Convinced that if only luck favoured them, they will be the next 'big thing'. Mukesh K Aggrahari, 33, a graduate with honours from Delhi University, has been a struggling actor for 11 years. 'My receding hairline doesn't deter me,' he says. 'By this time next year, God willing, I will have become a star'.

Greece is experiencing conditions in post-war history that no European thought would face again. Homeless people, soup kitchens, unemployment, poverty, violent conflicts and the rise of the extreme-right. The dream of prosperity has turned into a nightmare and the political scene of the last four decades is crumbling. Yorgos Avgeropoulos urgently turns his camera towards his homeland. He records the development of the crisis from its early stage, while tracing its impact on the lives of people. He witnesses popular protests in the streets, the development of solidarity movements as well as the rise of fascism, while at the same time he seeks answers from Greece's most significant political personalities, insiders, analysts and key decision makers from the international political scene.

Escape to Death is a captivating documentary film delving into the lives of maids in Lebanon and the sad reality that is a rise in maid suicides. This film focuses on the legal proceedings surrounding the suicides as well as dealing with employer/sponsor complaints against the maids. Interviewing maids who have personally experienced sexual harassment and torture at the hands of their employers, we question whether all reported maid suicides are actually suicides or are they murder?.

In Passport to Freedom, Arab nationals from Syria, Iraq, and Egypt describe what led them either to flee their country as refugees or go abroad to set up a new life - and, in the process, get dual nationality and a second passport. The 2011 revolutions sparked an increase in the numbers of emigrants, wanting to escape political instability and economic uncertainty in several Arab countries.

Israel under the Dome investigates the security measures taken by the Israeli government to protect its citizens from rockets/missiles fired from the Palestinian opposition. It questions the effectiveness of the Iron Dome that the Israeli government claims is a solid defence yet civilian accounts as well as specialist researchers beg to differ. Uncovering the remains of fired rockets in towns and settlements, the film discusses the discrepancies between government security statements and the reality of the situation.

Orly Fernandez manages and lives at a 24-hr funeral parlor in Manila. His relationships with clients and the journalists he meets color the empathy and contempt he holds for Philippine drug war victims who, like him, struggle to survive.

A new global phenomenon: over-equipped police facing furious, defenseless crowds brandishing their cell phones to record everything. The war of images on social media further polarizes police and demonstrators.

For a long time a peaceful trade area, the Baltic Sea became a major geopolitical hotspot in recent times. The inland sea forms the natural border between 8 states of the EU and Russia. Many strategic questions and issues arise from this constellation that have to do with gas pipelines, territorial claims and foreign policy influences. It is now clear that the time when the European Union could consider the Baltic Sea as "their lake" is over: Russia intends to reclaim its shores lost with the end of the USSR and is confronting Brussels with an unprecedented challenge. The stakes are indeed high and are not limited to a dispute over sovereignty between rival powers. For Europe, the Baltic Sea is a strategic hydrocarbon supply corridor, and the heated debates over the construction of the NordStream gas pipelines are causing deep discord within the EU member states.

Noon Films has recently finished a three-year production of an investigative documentary into the crash of Flight 990 bound for Cairo Egypt from New York in 1999. Since the event, there has been a lot of controversy over what happened and the FBI investigation eventually ruled that it was pilot suicide. The documentary stems from secret documents and exclusive recordings, revealed for the first time to the public, of the plane's black box, uncovering the final movements of crew members whilst the aircraft was plummeting from its cruising altitude. It also includes interviews with former officials that led the investigations at the time, aviation experts and eyewitnesses. The film seeks to factually arrive at the causes of the Boeing 767 air crash and to assess the credibility of the claim that the plane's captain was responsible for the disaster that cost the lives of 217 passengers including 33 Egyptian military personnel. It also sheds light on the manner in which the Egyptian authorities dealt with the US-led investigation.

The journey of the founders of the Free Gaza Movement and the 2008 breach of the Israeli siege on Gaza waters documented from conception in Greece to journey's end in Palestine.

Adventures of a journey led by Omani diplomat Ahmad Al Ka'abi, aiming to establish the first diplomatic relations between the Arab world and the United States in the mid-19th century, causing a political storm within the U.S. Congress.

An episode of "Out of Text" deals with the book "On Pre-Islamic Poetry" which was written by the Egyptian writer Taha Hussain who was one of the most influential 20th-century Egyptian writers and intellectuals.

My Journey to Hajj is a two part documentary film that follows a variety of individuals from different backgrounds and nationalities on their Hajj pilgrimage. Filming the characters from when they receive the news that they have acquired their Hajj visa, to seeing the Ka'bah for the first time and performing numerous Hajj rituals, this film captures a spiritual and emotional account of a once in a lifetime journey.

Hidden War explores the ongoing confrontation between pro-Palestinian and Zionist organisations. It looks at the fight that manifests itself in different fields and communities across Europe. It investigates the goals of a number of organisations - The Bacon Foundation - trying to shut down pro-Palestinian activist groups and institutions. The film also follows the efforts of the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions group as they try to raise awareness of boycotting large corporate pro-Israeli companies, whose profits directly contribute to the establishment, building and maintenance of illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine. The film also investigates the story of Sheikh Raed Salah, who was deported from Britain during his visit in 2011 and was accused of Semitism. Along with his supporters, they entered into a fierce judicial trial against the interior ministry who was backed a leading pro-Israeli organisation in Britain.

Propaganda film for peace. Feature length documentary about radical political protest in the 60s and its relevance to today.

The documentary "Milestones in the Road" - Part of "Out of Text" documentary series highlighted a book of the same name written by Sayed Qutb while he was in prison under Gamal Abdel Nasser, and sentenced to his death.

A documentary film as part of a series entitled "Mysterious Ends" revealing dramatic details in the death of Kamal Al-Sananiri a member of the Muslim Brotherhood in November 1981. The film examines the possible reasons behind Al-Sananiri's death, dealing with two different stories. The first, told by the Egyptian authorities, says that he committed suicide in his prison cell, while the second, supported by Egyptian national figures and former political prisoners, confirm that he was tortured to death at the hands of the Egyptian security forces. The documentary features scenes depicting the brutal detention conditions and torture methods in Egyptian prisons.

The film "Searching for Freedom: The Holy Land Foundation" is a two part documentary focussing on the story of the Holy Land Foundation, established in the late 80s by three Americans from Palestinian origin, Shukri Abu Baker, Ghassan Elashi and Mohammad El-Mezain. The foundation aimed to supply humanitarian aid to the Palestinians in Palestine and countries hosting Palestinian refugees, it later became the largest charity association in the US to distribute humanitarian aid to Palestinians. After 9/11, the former US President George W. Bush issued a decision to shut down the Holy Land Foundation and freeze its assets. In 2007 the Holy Land Foundation trials began, where five of its members were charged with funding terrorism and sending money to Hamas, a blacklisted political group in the US. A second trial for the Holy Land Foundation members took place in 2008, which issued the convictions of five members of the Foundation and their sentencing of 65 years imprisonment. The film looks at the new evidence arising and the secret witnesses who came from the Israeli Occupation State to provide testimonies for the second trial. This in itself was considered a precedent in the history of the American Justice System, talking about the mysterious circumstances experienced by the Court. The film highlights the difficult conditions experienced by the members of the Holy Land Foundation, their family, friends and the support they found in their communities.