Conditions such as schizophrenia and depression were once considered taboo but are now openly discussed in most societies. But in some parts of the world, people are in denial about mental illnesses. Yemeni-born filmmaker Amani Zain returns back to her homeland, to uncover how mental illnesses in Yemen.
A look at China's modern-day innovators - from backyard inventor Xu Ting Zhong, to Kong Weiming, the chief inventor of China's first registered innovation company, and those who profit from the piracy trade.
Melissa Hibbard made an unusual choice for an American - she married an Iranian. During a visit to meet her new husband's family in Tehran, she made a new friend - the family's housekeeper, Shahrbanoo. It was the beginning of an extraordinary trip deep into the heart of conservative Iran - a journey she decided to document on camera. This warm and very personal film eavesdrops on their conversations, from intense discussions about politics and women's roles in society, to intimate domestic scenes with Shahrbanoo's own family in one of Tehran's poorest areas. In their insightful film, Melissa and her husband Hamid Rahmanian share with us this journey into an Iran rarely seen outside its borders - a testimony to the hidden ties that connect us across vast cultural gulfs. Shahrbanoo can be seen from Sunday, May 30, 2010. Source: Al Jazeera
Two working days with two Mexican newspapers reveal the deadly beat that journalists tread when reporting on Mexico's violent drugs war.
While Mexico's drug war rages on, where do those caught in the crossfire find a safe haven?
Parcham is an Indian group offering prostituted women information and assistance in seeking other forms of income, and providing a means for their children to attend primary school – many of them for the first time.
Cholera, the silent killer, plagues Dhaka regularly, but the local hospital is pioneering a preventative approach which could bring hope to millions.
Most young American Indians now live in cities. But they are still at the bottom of the pile in terms of life chances and achievement. Attempts to turn the situation around are focusing on restoring a sense of pride in their Indian identity.
Residents of one Canadian town are engaged in a David and Goliath-style battle over the dirtiest oil project ever known.
Was the appropriation of Palestinian books and manuscripts in 1948 a case of cultural theft or preservation?
Chagas is a deadly disease that has affected millions of people, but one Argentinian doctor is trying to stop it. It is deadly, it is spreading quickly, and most of the world has never heard of it. Chagas, a parasitic disease, is spread by the vinchuca bug's bite. In rural Argentina, villagers speak of "muerte subita" or rapid death caused by Chagas. It can eat away at the cardiac muscle until the patient's heart ruptures. It can devour the intestinal wall leading to toxicity and massive internal bleeding. It is incurable in adults and, while it is not always fatal, it is almost always debilitating. With more and more rural to urban migration, the disease is migrating as well. While it is easy to diagnose with a blood test, it presents few obvious symptoms, so many of those infected may never be properly diagnosed or treated until the disease attacks.
One medic finds that moves towards political reform have not benefited his patients in Burma's remote border areas.
Has the eastern European country been returned to the grips of the powerful oligarchs and neighbouring Russia?
A filmmaker travels to Ivory Coast to trace the journey of his brother who emigrated as a teenager and never came home.
A Paraguayan farmer's fight against agricultural corporations destroying the livelihoods of many like him.
An inspirational film that uncovers the impact of Turkish soap operas on women across the Arab world and beyond.
Can restoring an old van transform the life of a poor but determined Polish teenager who lives off stealing scrap metal?
Filmmaker Raffaele Brunetti looks at the cult of beauty in the era of globalisation.
Armed with a camera, Ahmed Khatir sets out to tell the story of a war that hardly anyone has heard of.
A unique insight into the challenges facing an ambitious Gazan schoolgirl as she stands on the brink of adulthood.
Now grown up, Jorge has escaped the mine and wants to protect his friend Alex, accused of a crime he says he did not do.
Mainland Chinese migrants are caught in limbo without healthcare or housing as they wait years for Hong Kong residency.
Follow the journey of a former gang member as he heals the wounds of his past and tries to imagine a better future.
How villagers from a Kurdish farming community in Iraq survived the atrocities committed by Saddam Hussein's regime.
In New Zealand the Maori model of restorative justice uses indigenous cultural practices as a vehicle for social change.
One couple hopes to take action against high-profile Rwandan exiles, alleged to have been deeply complicit in crimes.
Dynamic teenager Suzete Sangula fights to make women's rights a reality in Mozambique, one step at a time.
The story of six Syrian activists who risk their lives to capture the horrific daily realities of the conflict.
A small US law firm takes on the world's largest fruit company.
A filmmaker is sued for his coverage of a legal battle between Nicaraguans and the biggest fruit company in the world.
A unique insight into the world of Israeli arms dealers selling weapons and experience around the world.
A fascinating look at how people with developmental disabilities are competing in a struggling US workforce.
Last orders for legendary Russian ZIL limousines as the final 3 are prepared for the Victory Day Parade on Red Square.
Witness goes into the heart of Malaysia's multi-million dollar fish farm industry.
Shanghai's Peace Old Jazz Band have been performing in China since the 1940s. We follow the band on a challenging trip.
On Lamu island, off the coast of Kenya, donkeys outnumber cars and are key to earning a living.
A Peruvian indigenous leader fights against the destruction of the rainforest and accusations of murder.
Filmmakers follow one girl's story inside Rio's biggest favela, starting from the time she was born.
A Congolese theatre student and revolutionary spent years in prison for a crime he did not commit.
The city's masses in eastern China turn to an unusual legal advocate to settle their cases.
Victims' families and an ex-US soldier unpick the Wikileaks film that showed US forces killing Iraqi civilians in 2007.
An emotional search for belief and identity in modern China as gamblers deal with debt and addiction.
An inside look at the tunnels under Gaza and the men who risk their lives to bring in essential supplies.
South Africa's miner strike led to the country's deadliest act of police violence since the end of apartheid.
Three Syrian children seek refuge over the Turkish border where teachers try to help them cope with the trauma of war.
Three medics return to Beirut and recall events they saw from 'Gaza Hospital' during the Sabra and Shatila massacre.
A composer struggles to host a concert featuring female singers as public performances by women are banned in Iran.
The story of two women who leave their homes and families in the Philippines to teach at schools in the United States.
One family's deeply personal journey through the 2011 Yemeni revolution.
Activists brush with the law and the mafia in their bid to rescue songbirds from ending up on European dinner tables.
An exploration of women and Islam in Morocco through the story of three female Morchidat or spiritual guides.
Follow former Chinese journalist He Zhongzhou as he struggles to support migrant workers and protect their rights.
One Latin American woman's quest to harness the power of the southern sun.
An Egyptian diva's song speaks to the musical arts of an age gone by.
Migrants send money home to support their families, but there is a dark side to cash transfers.
One good Samaritan is dedicated to ending the pattern of indifference towards domestic violence in her community.
A Chinese immigrant challenges one US family to reject materialism and live without Chinese products during Christmas.
Images from a city filled with challenges and hardships for the poor where one woman is creating second chances.
An emotionally powerful story of a six-year-old battling cancer, showing that laughter really is the best medicine.
In a city filled with challenges and hardships for the poor, one woman is dedicated to creating second chances.
An investigation into the toxic trail of illegal e-waste that is ushered from the first to the third world.
One journalist is determined to help China's millions of migrant workers suffering from the deadly black lung disease.
Master storyteller Ahmed Ezzarghani and apprentice Sara are fighting to keep the Moroccan storytelling tradition alive.
A unique glimpse into the relationship between a Palestinian store owner and his African American customers in Chicago.
Behind the scenes at Nepal's Gurkha recruitment camp as young men compete to join the elite British army brigade.
Can news fixer and six-time war survivor Raed Athamneh recover once more after Israel's 2014 war on Gaza?
A musical journey of faith that follows Britain's first female Muslim hip-hop duo on tour. This is a universal story about friendship, love and idealism, and two young women finding their place in the world. Muneera and Sukina are Poetic Pilgrimage, Britain's first female Muslim hip-hop duo. And this is their personal, spiritual and physical journey. As a tour of the UK takes the women into diverse communities, they remain undeterred by the fact that some Muslims consider music and public female performances to be forbidden. Instead, their music guides them to new discoveries about their faith, as they learn that they share their journey with other Muslim women around the world, and explore their desire to reconcile their conversion to Islam with their strong feminist sensibilities and Jamaican roots.
Eritrean refugees, trapped and tortured in the Sinai desert, reach out to an activist radio host in Sweden. Since Europe closed its borders in 2006, thousands of Eritreans try to flee their repressive country to Israel by crossing the Sinai desert. But there, many are kidnapped by Bedouins and taken to one of the hidden camps where their families are then extorted for ransom.ok: http://facebook.com/aljazeera
The personal journey of a filmmaker caught in the crossfire of the battle for Tasmania's ancient forests.
Follow an exiled Iranian filmmaker whose brother was executed by the Ayatollah regime as she confronts her past.
Russia's Sami reindeer herders are struggling to protect their land and culture on the resource-rich tundra.
Two centuries after it was written, the symphony continues to inspire struggles for freedom and survival.
At the EKON waste disposal and recycling plant on the outskirts of Warsaw, all of the workers are mentally disabled - suffering from varying conditions from mild learning difficulties to developed schizophrenia. The employees collect the rubbish from 60,000 flats and sort recyclable material at the factory.The factory has run successfully as a company for 20 years. Many of its workers would find it hard, if not impossible to find other jobs.The work done here provides a necessary service to the community, but it also helps to restore the self-confidence of employees, giving them a sense of purpose, companionship and allowing them to earn a wage while contributing to society.However, the future of the company and its employees is now in jeopardy as the company battles market forces in tricky economic times.
We follow three young rappers as they combine traditional Mongolian music with western rap to create nomadic hip hop.
In 1961, three young, visionary architects were commissioned by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara to create Cuba's National Art Schools on the grounds of a former golf course in Havana, Cuba. Construction of their radical designs began immediately and the school's first classes soon followed. Dancers, musicians and artists from all over the country reveled in the beauty of the schools, but as the dream of the revolution quickly became a reality, construction was abruptly halted and the architects and their designs were deemed irrelevant in the prevailing political climate. Forty years later, the schools are in use but remain unfinished and decaying. Castro has invited the exiled architects back to finish their unrealised dream. Cuba's Unfinished Spaces features intimate footage of Fidel Castro, showing his devotion to creating a worldwide showcase for art and documents the struggle and passion of three revolutionary artists.
A unique look at Chechnya's remarkable transformation and the terror that exists behind its gleaming facade.
From Mauritania to Copenhagen. An intimate look at the struggles of refugees and migrants travelling across the Mediterranean, from Africa to Europe.
Can Afghan archaeologists take on the Chinese and the Taliban to save a 5,000-year-old archaeological site?
Villages across Turkey are seeing their youth disappear as the bright lights of Istanbul lure them in with the prospect of a better life.The tiny village of Ardicalan in Sivas province has seen its population plummet to just 48 people, as its younger residents leave for greater employment opportunities in urban areas.Left behind are their elderly parents, many of whom live a lonely and difficult existence.In East of Istanbul, we meet Naci and Sefika Boztepe who have refused to leave their picturesque village out of a sense of duty and love for their traditional way of life.We join them as tend to their farm, look after their animals and, every so often, bake bread to send to their children who have left for Istanbul.
Three Kenyan high school students campaign to become school president using music, sweets and a goat to attract votes.
A Congolese hip-hop artist exiled in a Malawian refugee camp is determined to fight xenophobia with his music.Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribeFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglishFind us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeeraCheck our website http://www.aljazeera.com
Opiate addiction and mining developments are threatening the future of Canada's First Nations rural communities.
The massive Belo Monte Dam is bringing dangerous changes to the fragile social fabric of northern Brazil's communities.
Seventeen years ago, Hasan left his village in Macedonia fleeing with his family to Turkey.After relinquishing his Macedonian passport in exchange for Turkish citizenship, the 54-year-old never looked back.Until now.For years he lived in self-imposed exile even though his family invited him to return to his land and distant loved ones.Finally he relents and decides it is time to go back to his birthplace. He accepts his niece's invitation to return for a two week visit.We follow Hassan as he discovers long forgotten memories of a place where time has stood eerily still, and peace, once threatened, remained intact.
The chilling and courageous account of a Danish-Somalian boy in Copenhagen who fell victim to al-Shabab recruiters.
We follow the story of Bornor, the captain of an amputee football team, who is haunted by Sierra Leone's civil war.
A tale charting the rise and fall of the Chinese property market through the experiences of Yana, a young entrepreneur.
For decades, rampant violence and poverty have denied the youth of Mexico's southwestern state of Guerrero a stable future.Caught in a vicious cycle of drug trafficking, gang violence, and endemic poverty, there are only a few teachers brave enough to work in the villages in the heart of Guerrero.Maximino Villa Zamora is one of them.To try and break this cycle affecting his community, he teaches the children of poor villagers and farmers while providing guidance to the region's youth, who feel trapped by the lack of opportunities.But when the deaths of 43 students made news headlines in late 2014, it was personal for 'Maxi', as some of them were his students and one a nephew, Bernardo Flores.Maxi also organises for the community, providing support to the youth of Guerrero. He strives to give them hope and a belief that the lives of those missing students will be the final spark to ignite the change for his community and for Mexico's future.
In a Delhi slum, puppeteers, musicians, jugglers and acrobats try to unite as they wrangle with an approaching eviction.
Bassima lives in the Sabra refugee camp in Lebanon.A Palestinian refugee, she has struggled for the past 22 years to support her family.But having found work at a Women's Centre and sent her children to college - she is now determined to aid those less fortunate than her.Along with her best friend Nabila, they assist Syrian refugees arriving at the camp.But with a new wave of refugees, the camp is changing, funding is being redirected and the already limited resources are being stretched more than ever.
When NATO troops withdrew from Afghanistan, the Afghan National Army took over control of Helmand Province, an extremely dangerous region where attacks by Taliban fighters are the order of the day. Security, much less peace, seems to be unattainable; it is even difficult to find a common language in a country where everyone mistrusts each other. The directors of this film accompanied an Afghan army company during a year of frontline duty in Helmand. The soldiers are paid irregularly, there are not enough supplies, and their equipment is substandard. They cannot fight a war with the equipment left behind by the ISAF. In Afghanistan's Own Battle, fresh Afghan recruits talk about their doubts, their hopes and their dreams. Dramatic dramatic images show that there is an epic dimension to the soldiers' daily lives, and the private moments and bloody battles feel like a metaphor for the fate of this war-torn country. At the same time the film reveals the absurd side of the conflict from the point of view of these Afghan soldiers, in a country whose government is at the mercy of an enemy that even NATO troops did not succeed in defeating in almost 13 years of confrontation and conflict.
The Italians, the refugees and the fake wedding party - the innovative plot to help Syrians reach Sweden.
Hidden in the mountainous republic of Dagestan, Gusein Magomaev runs a famed martial arts school that has produced several European champions, Olympians and the only non-Chinese king of Kung Fu.Nurturing an array of talent, some 200 children train at the site that provides an escape for the region's disenfranchised youth.But in a republic with a high concentration of Muslims, outside the school's thick walls a fierce battle for control of the Northern Caucasus is raging between Muslim separatists and the minority Moscow-backed nationalists.Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stressed the importance of Dagestan for Russia - and if war breaks out there, it could have a domino-like effect on the whole region.In Dagestan's Peaceful Warriors , we follow Gusein who has faced arson attacks and threats from politicians while trying to keep his students focused on the next Russian karate championship.
As a Roma from Slovakia, Igor believes that education may be the only hope for changing the future of his community.
As e-sports boom globally, Lee Jae-dong reveals what it takes to be a champion in S Korea where gamers are celebrities.
Climate change is affecting all regions of the globe, but some places are more vulnerable than others.Parts of East Africa are already seeing the effects of climate instability, with those dependent on farming for their livelihood among some of the hardest hit.Refusing to fall victim to the weather, Kisilu, a Kenyan smallholder farmer, uses a camera to capture the human impact of climate change.Filmed over four years, he documents floods, droughts and storms that menace his and his community's farms, forcing some to stop tending the fields and seek work in towns and cities.In Kisilu: The Climate Diaries, we witness a groundbreaking portrait of a Kenyan family on the front line of climate change.Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribeFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglishFind us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeeraCheck our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/
Many African entrepreneurs today consider China as the new land of opportunities. One of them is Nathalie Fodderie from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). On a reconnaissance trip to Guangzhou, in Southern China, she has three weeks to find equipment for her Kinshasa restaurant that needs complete refurbishment.Fodderie works with an established network of African and Chinese middlemen and traders and haggles with some of the toughest businessmen in the world.Through her journey, we see how African and Chinese traders grapple with geographic and cultural hurdles to make a profit.- Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe- Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish- Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera- Check out our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/
A Pakistani rock star teaches a group of girls to express themselves through music in Karachi's most volatile district.
Aida Hilali, also known as Um Sultan, is a professional matchmaker and as such a pillar in Jordan's marriage industry.With growing uncertainty and war in the region, the family is one of the last vestiges of stability in the Arab World. Um Sultan helps couples get together so that successful families can be formed.Twice a year, before and after the holy fasting month of Ramadan, she oversees the marriages of dozens of Jordanian couples.Um Sultan has been instrumental in 2,000 weddings over 18 years. She considers her work part of a larger effort to maintain a strong social and family fabric that allows Arab families to weather the storms of war and uncertainty.- Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe- Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish- Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera- Check out our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/
An investigation into the role played by a retired US colonel in Iraq's US-funded sectarian interrogation units.
One young Iranian woman challenges her family and traditional values as she dreams of becoming an astronaut.
Widad Ketfi is a bold journalist for Bondy Blog, a news outlet set up to give young journalists in Paris' deprived suburbs an opportunity to shape their own narrative and combat negative stereotypes depicted in the mainstream media.One of the issues Widad feels most strongly about is the social inequalities that begin at school - her next assignment for the blog.For Widad's investigation, she travels around the suburbs of Paris, where she meets locals, teachers and students, while trying to track down the national education minister for an all-important interview.In an area where one in five people are out of work - double the national average - Widad sees education as key to empowering so many dispossessed youth, as it did in her own experience.The blo
A divorced single parent in Morocco is determined to work as a wedding videographer despite resistance from her family.
The story of a Sioux chief buried in Germany in 1914 and the challenges his descendants face today in South Dakota.
We explore the hip side of Congo-Brazzaville with a style icon, a rap artist, a wrestler, and a radio talk show host.
An Indian electrician risks life and limb to siphon off electricity for poor areas in a city crippled by power cuts.
Three years ago, Jeremy Geia was a well-paid political journalist reporting from Australia's capital.But he doesn't exist anymore.Murrumu Walubara, as he is now known, has taken a tribal name, renounced Australian citizenship and abandoned two decades worth of savings.He has returned to his ancestral land in northeast Australia, where he has set about creating an indigenous nation with its own laws and institutions.Witness follows Murrumu during his impassioned weekly radio broadcast to promote the newly-announced state, at citizen swearing-in ceremonies, and travelling to Canberra to lobby Australian ministers and foreign embassies for recognition.Will he be greeted as a publicity-seeking activist or will his calls for independence be taken seriously
Benin's Gangbe Brass Band heads to Lagos to perform at the spiritual home of Afrobeat, Fela Kuti's New Afrika Shrine.
Armed with a photo from Interpol, a Latvian filmmaker travels to Malaysia to find her disappeared millionaire father.
The inhabitants of the stunning Faroe Islands pride themselves on their self-sustainability and respectful affinity with their environment.As director Benjamin Huguet films, in sometimes shocking scenes, they are used to raising and hunting their own food. But with international protests against whale hunting and the introduction of new regulations, they have to question the future of their traditions.
We follow a Vietnamese teenager disabled by Agent Orange as he struggles to realise his dream of becoming an artist.
An exploration of the life and death of Olivia, a victim of child rape and its horrible aftermath in Liberia.
A specialist hair and beauty salon provides a safe haven for women to share their stories about living with cancer.
We ask if a code promoting self-preservation in a tsunami could account for one Japanese community's high survival rate.
In the heart of Bulgaria's Rose Valley, Irina is desperate to give her four-year-old daughter, Stefi, a better start in life. She is struggling single mother, working two jobs to put food on the table. Her main source of income comes from her dangerous work at a weapons factory where she measures and packs gunpowder into artillery shells.Struggling to pay the rent, bills, and Stefi's kindergarten fees, she moves out of her parents' rural village to be closer to her work - despite not knowing whether she can afford it.Her only respite is singing, a talent taught to her by her late grandfather, which she uses to sing for extra money in local restaurants.But as the rent and bills stack up, Irina is forced to take on a third job offering high-interest loans to equally desperate friends and family.This is an intimate story about poverty and the price a mother is prepared to pay to ensure a better life for her child.
Every year cadets at Japan's National Defense Academy prepare to battle each other in a fierce sport called Botaoshi.Up to 300 players square off in an attempt to pull down a three-metre pole held upright by the opposing team.These young men are training to become future leaders in Japan's Self-Defense Forces, and see the game as a test of their physical strength and strategic abilities.With Japan recently passing new laws that allow its troops to fight overseas for the first time since World War II, the cadets are more determined than ever to excel.Witness follows the captains of two Botaoshi battalions, each deploying different tactics to lead their team to victory.
Through the story of one Zimbabwean family we tell the parallel tale of the decline and collapse of their country.
Approximately 100 women defiantly cling to their ancestral homeland in Chernobyl's radioactive 'Exclusion Zone.' While most of their neighbours have long since fled and their husbands have gradually died off, this stubborn sisterhood is hanging on - even, oddly, thriving - while trying to cultivate an existence on toxic earth.Hanna, Maria and Valentya chose to return after the 1986 nuclear disaster, defying authorities and endangering their health. They share this hauntingly beautiful but lethal landscape with an assortment of scientists, soldiers and young thrill seekers.Now, 30 years after the disaster, they also share their remarkable tales of survival.More from Witness on:YouTube - http://aje.io/witnessYTFacebook - https://facebook.com/AJWitness Twitter - https://twitter.com/AJWitness Instagram - https://instagram.com/ajwitness/ Website - http://aljazeera.com/witness
In the remote Pakistan village of Hakimwala, farmers battle a deadly pest that is ruining their cotton crops. Many find it difficult to afford the pesticide and face mounting debts.The elders of the village encourage the young men to travel abroad to earn better pay and help lift the village out of poverty.Twenty-eight-year-old Sharif has lived in Hakimwala all his life. He is an only son and drives the only car in the village. He is responsible for driving the sick to the city hospital three hours away.But with the infestation of his cotton crops and rising debts, Sharif decides it is time to seek his fortune elsewhere.Sharif decides to go to Dubai despite warnings from his friends. The villagers sell the car and his family sells their hard-earned lands to cover his expenses.For the first time in his life, Sharif leaves his village, flies in an airplane and experiences a foreign land. In spite of mounting debts, Sharif is about to learn that there is more to life than money. Or is thereMore from Witness on:YouTube - http://aje.io/witnessYTFacebook - https://facebook.com/AJWitness Twitter - https://twitter.com/AJWitness Instagram - https://instagram.com/ajwitness/ Website - http://aljazeera.com/witness
We follow the journey of Kenyans seeking justice for Britain's role in the torture during the 1950s Mau Mau uprising.
Having recently turned 27, Li Chenxi has reached the age at which unmarried women in China are labelled 'sheng nu' or 'leftover women'.It's a stigma that carries deep ramifications within her social life, workplace and especially among her family. But with a blossoming career in Beijing, Li Chenxi has no desire to get married.As Chinese New Year looms she makes her annual journey home to face greater than ever expectations.In search of a solution that staves off the marital pressures, Li Chenxi decides to commit the ultimate deception: She hires a handsome boyfriend in Beijing to take home to meet her family and friends.What could possibly go.
Haunted by his decision not to intervene as civilians were killed, a former UN commander returns to Croatia 20 years on.
A Belgian filmmaker explores her family's past in Rwanda after she discovers a hidden aunt and an 80-year-old secret.
As Iraq's national power grid struggles to provide electricity, a new form of entrepreneur has started to fill the gap.
According to The Economist, more than a million Chinese households a month have moved into the middle class since 2000.Like many other young Chinese, Chen Guojie is desperate to earn a wage and stand on his own feet.He has no desire to take over the tiny silk factory his parents risked everything to build in eastern China. He wants a higher paid, less stressful job in the city.But achieving the Chinese dream isn't easy. Witness follows Guojie over four years as he fights the urge to drop out of university, tackles problems at home and finds the love of his life.A coming of age story about big dreams and difficult decisions in a country changing at an extraordinary pace.More from Witness on:YouTube - http://aje.io/witnessYTFacebook - https://facebook.com/AJWitness Twitter - https://twitter.com/AJWitness Instagram - https://instagram.com/ajwitness/ Website - http://aljazeera.com/witness
During the 2014 war on Gaza, a Palestinian filmmaker joins an ambulance crew as they try to save lives.
A Maori activist's fight for his people after being accused of running a paramilitary training camp in New Zealand.
Life under the bombs with a team of White Helmet rescue workers in Syria's most dangerous city, Aleppo.
Esther Phiri has literally had to fight hard to carve out an independent life on her own terms. In her native Zambia, the seven-time world champion boxer is an icon for women who pursue their dreams in defiance of tradition. In this film we understand why: she is a deeply charismatic and determined woman –and she can knock anybody out. Before becoming a boxer, Esther gave up her education in order to support her family and instead invested in her meteoric boxing career, despite the pressure to marry and have children. More from Witness on: YouTube - http://aje.io/witnessYT Facebook - https://facebook.com/AJWitness Twitter - https://twitter.com/AJWitness Instagram - https://instagram.com/ajwitness/ Website - http://aljazeera.com/witness
Margarita Restrepo has been searching for her daughter who disappeared during the Colombian civil war more than a decade ago. She believes her daughter's body may be in a mass grave on the edge of the infamous Comuna 13 slum in Colombia's second largest city, Medellin. Many of those who disappeared at this time are believed to be victims of the notorious military operation known as 'Orion'. In this operation, government soldiers and paramilitary death squads worked together to 'disappear' opponents. As Margarita struggles to find her missing daughter, she meets the lead forensic investigator working on the grave site hoping to find closure for the families. Also assisting with this process is a former death squad commander, 'Mobile 8'. Now behind bars, 'Mobile 8' provides a rare account into the operations behind the 'disappearances' and potential insight into what may have happened to Margarita's daughter.
Airin and her friends are rooftoppers in Hong Kong. They refuse to play by the rules and sneak to the top of the city’s soaring skyscrapers. But their high-rise antics are not just for thrills. Two years after the pro-democracy ‘Umbrella Movement’ was cleared from the streets, many young people are in a state of despair. They're anxious about their futures - from unaffordable housing and wealth inequality to the growing influence of Mainland China. Airin believes their defiant stunts can inspire others to stand up against powerful elites. Will they mobilise Hong Kongers to fight for change, or just land themselves in a lot of trouble More from Witness on: YouTube - http://aje.io/witnessYT Facebook - https://facebook.com/AJWitness Twitter - https://twitter.com/AJWitness Instagram - https://instagram.com/ajwitness/ Website - http://aljazeera.com/witness
In the pristine Bavarian Alps, Mama Flora's hotel - once a popular tourist destination - has become a home for refugees.
Devastated by the murder of their best friend, Afghan journalist Esmat Kohsar and American reporter Courtney Body investigate the truth about what happened on the night of March 20, 2014. Just two and a half weeks before the Afghan presidential elections, journalist Sardar Ahmad, his wife and their two children were killed while having dinner at a restaurant in Kabul's most distinguished hotel. While the Taliban immediately claimed responsibility, Courtney and Esmat believe there is more to the story. For Sardar: The Afghan Journalist tracks their struggles as they grapple with their own dedication to journalism and love for the country of Afghanistan, while finally coming face to face with the loss of their friend. More from Witness on: YouTube - http://aje.io/witnessYT Facebook - https://facebook.com/AJWitness Twitter - https://twitter.com/AJWitness Instagram - https://instagram.com/ajwitness/ Website - http://aljazeera.com/witness
In 2015, more than 500,000 refugees arrived on the Greek island of Lesbos in Europe's biggest immigration crisis since World War II. For many of them, their final destination is Germany. Despite the risks, Abdulrahman Osman and his wife, Kraiz, decided that they should attempt the dangerous journey together with their four children - joining the masses of refugees entering Europe. We meet them at the end of their sea crossing from Turkey to Greece. They wash up on the beach, exhausted and slightly disoriented. But anything is better than remaining in Syria, they say. Crossing Europe on foot, in buses and on trains, their journey takes 10 days of almost non-stop moving. Finally, they arrive in Germany. It is here they face an equally daunting challenge, starting from scratch in an unfamiliar country. This is the end of the beginning for refugees arriving in Western Europe, exiting the camps and establishing a new home, building security for their future, schools for the children and eventually new work - all in a language they don't speak and in a society that may not always be that welcoming. More from Witness on: YouTube - http://aje.io/witnessYT Facebook - https://facebook.com/AJWitness Twitter - https://twitter.com/AJWitness Instagram - https://instagram.com/ajwitness/ Website - http://aljazeera.com/witness
How teenage refugees from Syria and Iraq end up in Greek prisons, accused of trafficking illegal immigrants into Europe.
A courageous family of 11 blind people try to keep hopes and dreams alive as another member faces blindness.
An elderly poet can't accept life at a Pakistani refugee camp, and faces the agonising decision about whether to return home. Baba, a poet and former teacher, lives with his family in one of many tarpaulin-covered tents at the Jalozai camp, southeast of Peshawar, in Pakistan, which was originally set up to house refugees fleeing the civil war in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Jalozai has welcomed thousands of internally displaced people in recent years, including Baba and his family, who were forced off their land by fighting between the Pakistan Army and insurgents. Baba's son scrapes together a living by selling balloons and carting around a film projector.
A Muslim schoolgirl fights prejudice and patriarchy with every punch.
In southeast Turkey, a few dozen kilometres from war-torn Syria, a secret network, at great risk to themselves, is rescuing fighters who have decided to leave ISIL. For the first time, these deserters have agreed to give a detailed account of the roles they played and what life was like under ISIL. Most of them have lived in Raqqa, ISIL's political and military stronghold in Syria. Personal accounts of this sort are extremely rare because, in general, ISIL deserters go into hiding and keep quiet. If they give themselves up to authorities, they are immediately imprisoned and can no longer have any contact with their lawyers or families. The smuggling network, made up of long-term fighters of the Free Syrian Army, agreed to reveal a few of its working methods. By helping the deserters to flee and by collecting their testimonies, they want to denounce ISIL's lies, its false promises, its cult of violence and its widespread corruption. The members of the network are convinced that, in doing so, they will discourage future candidates and block recruitment channels.
During the 2011 revolution, Libya's underground musicians emerged to help to free their country from Gaddafi's rule.
In Mexico, one woman dreams of reuniting with her family in the US legally as she supports other deported mothers.
The Ayachis, a French-Syrian Muslim family, trade their peaceful lives in Europe for revolution in Syria.
During the Euromaidan uprising, piano players defy the riot police by playing music as a gesture of peaceful resistance.
In Burkina Faso, one women challenges stigma and educates mothers on how to prevent transmitting HIV to their children.
Rio de Janeiro favela residents rally against police brutality, corruption, impunity and ruthless state oppression.
Two young Saudi women host a design event that is pushing boundaries of art and tradition.
Rugby player Tafale is caught between tradition and her Olympic dreams as she strives to make it onto the national team.
A filmmaker returns to Iraq to film refugees fleeing ISIL and tries to find a young girl who he believes saved his life.
Yula grows up on Moscow's outskirts in the largest garbage dump in Europe. She has one dream - to lead a normal life.
Istanbul's street vendors chant their last songs amid the city's gentrification. I Hear Music is an intimate portrait of the cultural shift in Istanbul from traditional to modern, told through the stories of three street vendors when their work suddenly becomes illegal. Halit has been selling home-made stuffed mussels for 20 years; Ismet has been coming and going through the same neighbourhood since the 50s with his freshly-made pastries; and Yasemin walks the streets with her bundle full of bedspreads and curtains. All three face relocation and competition from modern shopping centres and commercial brands in the midst of gentrification. As they face uncertain futures, the street vendors are invited to sing their lyrical sales chants at an event organised by local musicians to commemorate the traditional, fast-disappearing sounds of the streets of Istanbul.
Two brothers fight to save their family business, the oldest auction house in India, a piece of Kolkata's heritage. After a long career working in business in the UK, Anwer Saleem has returned to Kolkata to revive the fortunes of his family's ramshackle auction house, The Russell Exchange. It was bought from the British by his grandfather in 1940 and has been in the family ever since. Once it was the Sotheby's of India but these days it is living out a much humbler reality. The auctions attract people from across Indian society, rich and poor, but the company is not making a profit. The odds are stacked against Anwer, who needs to motivate the staff and his younger brother Arshad to modernise in the internet age. As the brothers come to terms with each other, their amusing relationship gives an insight into whether old family businesses can adapt and survive in 21st-century India.
A group of exonerated death row survivors called the 'Resurrection Club' fights to abolish the death penalty in the US.
Only 25 years after gaining independence from Russia, Lithuania is fearful of occupation again. The airspace above the Baltic states has seen regular incursions by Russian military aircraft since Russia annexed the Crimea. And the armed conflict that has been raging in eastern Ukraine for nearly three years has left people wondering if Lithuania could be next. This documentary tells the story of two young Lithuanians getting ready to defend their country in case the unimaginable happens and Russia invades. But the film is not about the war, it is about peace and the people who are willing to fight to preserve it.
In the jungles of Peru, young coca farmers risk everything to win a deadly motor race, now a vibrant local tradition.
A group of young actors with Down syndrome take on the challenge of staging a classic Panamanian play.
An Iraqi former secret agent searches for his teenage son who disappeared on a sinking refugee boat headed for Greece.
Four Syrian friends put on a TV-style talent show to lift spirits at the refugee camp where they are stranded.
In Los Angeles, a former gang member who helps others break away from violence and drug addiction, has his own battles.
An orphan's journey back to Bosnia after 20 years in search of answers and an understanding of his long lost family.
A salt gatherer becomes a link to the old world when Bolivia embarks on a plan to mine lithium from the Uyuni salt flat.
A 72-year-old Finnish weightlifter who has won four world championships is determined to win one final title.
South Africa's political rebel Julius Malema gains support across the nation as he challenges the ruling ANC party.
When a ranger is killed near the Dominican Republic's border with Haiti, the impact of illegal deforestation is exposed.
At the height of Iran's isolation, a fashion designer and an architect attempt to turn an old mud palace into a hotel.
An Indian reggae musician builds a Jamaican-style sound system to energise a wave of protests defending free speech.
A documentary film on the struggle of a smallest tribe in Namibia fighting for the return of the skulls of their people taken by the Germans for racial science profiling after the genocide of 1904. It also demands the finding of these tests. This is while this tribe is launching a case to seek reparation from Germany. This is a story of the ordinary grassroots group taking on the mighty and powerful against all odds. Puo Pha Productions.
A blood feud keeps Beta and her sister trapped at home, hoping their father's bid for asylum can provide an escape.
A reformed troublemaker rigs up high-speed internet in his community to help turn around the indigenous reserve.
Bold, fearless and tearing up tracks across the West Bank: meet the first all-female racing car team in the Middle East.
Unprecedented access and an exclusive interview with Omar Khadr during his first days of freedom.
Robert and Larry keep the spirit of 'Motown' alive in their barbershop despite the city's decline.
A photographer from Homs becomes a youth leader after his photos of life in a refugee camp are noticed in Canada.
Mr Khanna returns to Pakistan for the first time since he was forced to flee when India was split apart in 1947.
Two renowned graffiti artists rediscover their heritage working on a mural project inspired by their Hawaiian culture.
Life in Australia's detention camps on Nauru and Manus Island through the eyes of asylum seekers and whistleblowers.
In Argentina, a group of journalists investigate land grabs and football as they try to keep their newspaper afloat.
Former Guantanamo detainee Moazzam Begg chronicles tensions between the West and Islam through his own experience.
A son confronts the uncomfortable truth about why his father fled the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile.
Overnight fame comes with a price for an unlikely fashion designer in China who thinks she is the next Coco Chanel.
A pigeon fighter attempts to beat a rival neighbourhood in his final duel before family pressure forces him to quit.
The world's oldest blogger reveals how it's possible to transform your life and find happiness at 100 years of age.
Two Colombian guerrilla fighters prepare to give birth for the first time, as their rebel army lays down its arms.
A former slave fights for the rights of girls sold into slavery while pursuing her own dream of becoming a lawyer.
Benjamin and Awad run Sudan's national film archive. The two men, who've worked together for more than 40 years, are devoted to protecting their country's visual memories. Home to some 13,000 films, the archive preserves pivotal moments of Sudan's turbulent history, and is one of the largest in Africa. But the archive is in a fragile state. Following years of neglect and poor storage, many film reels are turning to dust in Sudan's unforgiving tropical climate. The two friends are determined to turn it around and embark on a mission to save the old films. Will they succeed in preserving Sudan's visual history for future generations before it's too late More from Witness on: YouTube - http://aje.io/witnessYT Facebook - https://facebook.com/AJWitness Twitter - https://twitter.com/AJWitness Instagram - https://instagram.com/ajwitness/ Website - http://aljazeera.com/witness
Teenagers and young boys as well as their relatives and guardians give testimonies of life and death under ISIL.
A Congolese artist inspires young and old to reflect on the future of Africa through his artwork.
Putuparri is inspired to fight for his indigenous land when he experiences an elaborate rainmaking ritual take effect in the remote Australian desert. Over the course of 20 years, Tom "Putuparri" Lawford, navigated the deep chasm between his Western upbringing and traditional Aboriginal culture as he transformed from a rebellious young man into an inspirational leader. His grandfather "Spider" taught Putuparri bush knowledge and the Aboriginal Dreamtime myths. For more than 40,000 years, their ancestors lived a nomadic life, knowing they could always retreat to their sacred waterholes when times were hard. A process of cultural awakening begins when Putuparri returns to his homeland in the desert with Spider and is shocked to learn that the Dreamtime myths are not just stories. Spurred into action by what he experiences, Putuparri dedicates himself to reclaiming the land taken from his ancestors and battling bureaucracy and political apathy. He is also under immense pressure to preserve an age-old culture while coming to terms with his own turbulent past.
A teenage brother and sister take on the responsibility of raising their young siblings when their mother is imprisoned.
A Dutch teenager records video diaries when she is locked behind a hospital's glass wall for a bone marrow transplant.
Can Aamir Khan create lasting change in Indian society or is he just another Bollywood star playing the role of a hero?
America's oldest interracial newlyweds are at risk of being separated by a family feud over guardianship.
A tattered notebook holds the promise of justice for hundreds of war survivors as violence resurges in CAR.
Madagascan slam poets, artists and skateboarders make space for creative expression despite poverty and colonial legacy.
Two Sudanese inventors use a drone to take on desertification and their rivals in a TV competition for entrepreneurs.
A Tamil filmmaker living in Sri Lanka reflects upon the experience and impact of three decades of civil war.
Joe Moses, the leader of the Paga Hill settlement in Papua New Guinea, struggles to save his community from eviction.
A film by Haibo Yu and Kiki Tianqi Yu Vincent van Gogh only sold a few paintings in his lifetime, but Chinese copy artist Zhao Xiaoyong has sold over 90,000 reproductions of the Dutch painter's masterpieces over the past 20 years. Born in a rural Chinese village, Zhao moved to Dafen Oil Painting Village in 1996, with thousands of other migrant workers and aspiring artists, who had been flocking to Dafen since the late 1980s to paint copies of iconic works for global export. He has long admired Van Gogh's work and feels a special connection to the artist's tragic life. After decades of studying the artist's paintings through photos, Zhao is invited to Amsterdam by his top client to see Van Gogh's original work. The trip is a shock and a revelation for Zhao and inspires him to pursue his own artistic expression, for as long as he can afford to do so.
A young girl's dream to return home after two years of working in the markets of Accra clash with family pressures.
A Syrian-American doctor travels to a hospital on the Turkey-Syria border determined to help victims of the ongoing war.
This multi-award-winning film follows a medic through five years of upheaval after US troops withdrew from Iraq.
The men of a Pakistani bomb disposal unit risk their lives in KPK province, armed with little more than courage.
A father attempts to swap fishing for smuggling in a bid to provide for his family amid economic crisis in Venezuela.
A notorious war criminal searches for the prisoners he tortured during the Bosnian War to seek their forgiveness. Esad Landzo was convicted of torture, war crimes and crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in 1998. He was a 19 year old prison guard at the Celebici camp in Konjic, Bosnia, notorious for abuse and torture of prisoners of war, many of whom were civilians, during the Bosnian War. When he is released from prison in Finland after 10 years, Landzo is without a job and unable to get a visa from any other country. Desperate to rebuild a normal life, but tormented by the demons of his past, he begins an exhausting search for the men he tortured in an attempt to repent for the suffering he caused. A handful agree to listen, but their anger is palpable as they confront the horrific violence of their past.
Recently deported Dilan lives in fear of the MS-13 gang, but discovers El Salvador's booming call centre industry.
Meet the 'Queen Hunter' Aisha who catches Boko Haram fighters and searches for kidnapped children in northern Nigeria.
Meet the wives, mothers and daughters behind Greece's notorious right-wing Golden Dawn party.
Oula has run a mobile library in the Nordic Arctic for 40 years, but as retirement looms the bus' future is uncertain.
What happens when Indonesian migrant workers trapped in debt-bondage in Canada decide to fight back?
A landmark legal battle over the future of tattooing erupts in Japan after police crack down on tattoo artists in Osaka.
A Lakota teenager growing up on the Pine Ridge Reservation confronts the injustices facing his people.
Meet the prisoners competing to participate in Russia's prison song contest and the woman inspiring them to sing.
'To survive here, it's about family.' -Frances Sistook Ozenna, tribal coordinator, Little Diomede Close to the Arctic Circle, lie two remote islands. They are only about four kilometres apart, but they are separated by an invisible border known as the 'Ice Curtain'. Little Diomede is part of the United States. Big Diomede is part of Russia. During the Cold War, the Inupiat tribe living on both islands was torn apart. In 1948, the Soviets moved the residents of Big Diomede to mainland Russia. Their relatives on Little Diomede remained. Now, more than two decades since their last reunion, Frances Sistook Ozenna, a tribal coordinator on Little Diomede, is attempting to reunite her people with their Russian relatives. I think about how my grandparents must have felt when they separated them. That must have been a big grief for them to lose that connection. Frances Sistook Ozenna, tribal coordinator on Little Diomede 'I've heard stories a long time ago about how there was interaction between the villages before the Ice Curtain,' she says. 'I think about how my grandparents must have felt when they separated them. That must have been a big grief for them to lose that connection.' But bringing their Russian relatives to Little Diomede is as challenging as thawing volatile US-Russia relations. They must secure visas for the US, and also navigate treacherous storms in order to reach the remote island. But, conscious that it may be the last opportunity for the tribe's few remaining elders, Frances and the community are determined to make the reunion happen. During the Cold War, the Inupiat tribe were separated by the 'Ice Curtain', a narrow expanse of water separating the US and the former Soviet Union [Jonathan Schienberg, Tik Root/Al Jazeera] FILMMAKER'S VIEW By Squint at a map, and you will find two dots in the middle of the Bering Strait, just south of the Arctic Circle, where humans are thought to have first crossed to North America. That's how we first found the Diom
Four men. Four stories. Four alternative views of the battle for Aleppo. When the stories of the war in Syria are told will they be reduced to simple tales of good and evil? What will they include and what will they leave out? And will each be able to be summarised, like the old saying suggests, as A Stranger Came to Town? There are four characters in this film, each from the Syrian city of Aleppo. Four men who once lived a stone's throw away from one another, but who took four different paths as revolution, violence and chaos engulfed their city. Four men who now fear that their homeland may be lost to them forever.
The Apology follows the personal journeys of three former 'comfort women' who were among the 200,000 girls and young women kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Some 70 years after their imprisonment in so-called 'comfort stations', the three 'grandmothers' - Grandma Gil in South Korea, Grandma Cao in China, and Grandma Adela in the Philippines - face their twilight years and fading health. After decades of living in silence and shame about their past, they know that time is running out to give a first-hand account of the truth and ensure that this horrific chapter of history is not forgotten. Gil Won-ok, or 'Grandma Gil', as she is affectionately known among a well-established network of activists, has been attending weekly demonstrations in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul for years. Despite her age and declining health, she remains a key spokesperson in the movement for an official apology from the Japanese government. Her exhausting travels eventually take her to the hallowed halls of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva to deliver a petition with over a million signatures on behalf of her fellow survivors. Grandma Cao lives in a remote village surrounded by mountains in rural China, where what happened to hundreds of local girls after they were kidnapped has long been an open secret among the old-timers. Fiercely independent, Grandma Cao insists on living alone despite the protests of her loyal daughter, who has been unaware of her mother's story. It is only when a historian requests an account of her experiences that Grandma Cao agrees to break decades of stoic silence about her painful past. In Roxas City, Grandma Adela manages to find solace, camaraderie and a sense of freedom as part of a support group for other survivors. Though she found love after the war, she carefully hid the truth about her past from her husband. Now widowed, she is wracked with guilt for not sharing her secret. She resolves
'What would happen if thousands of Gazans, most of them refugees, attempted to peacefully cross the fence that separated them from their ancestral lands' That was the question 33-year-old Palestinian poet and journalist Ahmed Abu Artema posted on Facebook earlier this year. His post went viral. It was a rallying cry that inspired a movement of peaceful protests known as the Great March of Return. Frustrated by Israel's more than decade-long land, sea and air blockade of the Gaza Strip, upon which it has waged three wars in the past 10 years, and wanting to draw attention to the Palestinian right of return, Ahmed organised the marches as a cry for help. Our hardships induced this scream for life. The March of Return is a scream for life so that we may leave the walls of our prison. 'Our hardships induced this scream for life,' the soft-spoken father explains. 'The March of Return is a scream for life so that we may leave the walls of our prison.' But Ahmed is an unconventional protest leader. More comfortable in a library than at a protest camp, the former student of non-violent resistance wanted the movement to follow the examples of Martin Luther King Jr and Mahatma Gandhi. 'Up until a few years ago, the idea of peaceful struggle in Gaza was considered strange and disapproved of, because in people's minds it meant surrender,' he reflects. 'But with the March of Return, there was a positive transformation. People started having faith in peaceful struggle.' Many of the protests took on a carnival-like atmosphere, with people of all ages and even traditional dabke dancers in attendance. But they were met with violence. More than 18,000 Palestinians have been injured so far, many of them seriously, and nearly 200 killed by Israeli forces, including 21-year-old volunteer paramedic Razan al-Najjar who was shot as she tended to a wounded protester. It's a toll Ahmed grapples with in Gaza: Between Fire and Sea, as he visits some of the injured and relatives of the deceased
Amid spiralling crime and violence in the marginalised South African township of Galeshewe, local resident Pantsi Obusitse has formed a vigilante group called Operation Wanya Tsotsi. The group has set about administering its own DIY brand of justice with a focus on corporal punishment. 'People were angry; people couldn't take it any more. We went out with machetes, spades. Every weapon that is there. We were carrying weapons. We went out to hunt these boys. Because we know them, who are terrorising our communities,' says Pantsi Obusitse, chairperson of Operation Wanya Tsotsi. 'We had to take an approach that is abnormal, because we are facing an abnormal situation.' Despite its controversial methods, Operation Wanya Tsotsi has gained widespread support within Galeshewe and demand for the group's limited resources is growing. But the response from the South African state and a stretched local police department has been ambivalent. The Reluctant Vigilante follows the trajectory of Obusitse, his continuing quest for legitimacy in a country with a long and often brutal history of vigilante violence, and his complex relationship with law enforcement and the local community.
Casey Kauffman and Alessandro Cassigoli met when they were in their early 20s, sharing a flat in Rome. Casey, an American who aspired to become a journalist, and Alessandro, an Italian with ambitions of becoming a filmmaker, had very different personalities. But a friendship soon blossomed between them. Casey would meet people from all walks of life, while Alessandro would film his encounters. 'Since Alessandro loved filmmaking and I was starting out in journalism, we had a common interest in filming things,' Casey recalls. 'We talked a lot about video cameras, about characters, about how to capture special moments ...' But then Casey moved to the Middle East to begin his career as a journalist, while Alessandro set off for Berlin. 'When I started working as a one-man-band reporter and cameraman for Al Jazeera, Alessandro wanted to see the footage. And I wanted him to have it,' Casey explains. He began sending all of his raw footage to his friend. The most horrific and hilarious moments, too unconventional for Casey's TV reports, all ended up with Alessandro. But what started out simply as a way to keep in touch soon became something more - allowing the two friends to discover a world they never knew. Casey's footage, shot in the back of immigrant trucks heading to Europe, during bombing campaigns in Gaza City and in homeless shelters in the United States, penetrated Alessandro's comfortable life in Europe. As the tapes and hard drives kept coming, Alessandro, once shy and introverted, started to feel more connected to the stories they contained. As he sifted through the footage, it was often those moments that weren't directly related to the straight news story Casey was reporting that Alessandro was most drawn to. 'There is humanity in this footage where you would least expect it,' he reflects. But while Alessandro delved deeper into his footage, Casey, constantly faced with other people's trauma, struggled to ma
Heba is a young Iraqi woman with a good job as an electrical engineer and the prospect of a decent future. At 28, she owns a modern flat in the newly-built Bismayah New City in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, where she lives with her mother and younger sister. It’s a vast development of neat, white and beige apartment blocks, wide, well-lit walkways and plenty of green spaces, where children can play and ride their bikes. Heba says living there makes her feel safe and secure. 'This place has given us freedom and peace of mind,' she says of the complex that is one of many joint ventures between the governments of Iraq and South Korea. But this isn’t Heba’s only South Korean connection. In fact, she’s obsessed with all things South Korean. She uses Korean cosmetics, listens to Korean music, watches Korean dramas on television, cooks Korean food and has studied Korean Hangul with the aid of YouTube tutorials. 'Korea didn’t shape who I am, but it did bring out the real me,' she reflects. But Heba isn’t satisfied with pursuing her love for South Korea from afar. She dreams of one day being able to move there. And she isn’t alone. Heba represents a new and growing trend among young Iraqis who find in South Korea a vision for the future. While life in Iraq seems chaotic and unpredictable, South Korea offers them an enticing example of order and stability. But moving to South Korea is a huge undertaking. Heba risks losing her job and, along with it, her family’s main source of income. Not all of her family are supportive of it. Korean Lovers in Baghdad follows Heba on an emotional journey as she pursues her dream and goesin search of her place in the world, encountering seemingly insurmountable obstacles along the way.
In September 2017, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees fled Myanmar, where the military was waging a brutal offensive against them that the United Nations has described as 'a textbook example of ethnic cleansing'. Among those fleeing Myanmar's Rakhine State for neighbouring Bangladesh was 23-year-old Mohammed Yusuf, his wife, parents and younger brothers. The former teacher and his family settle in a makeshift home in the vast Kutupalong-Balukhali refugee camp in Cox's Bazaar, where he quickly discovers that among the many things of which the refugees are deprived, there is one that stands out: information. Its absence can exact a heavy practical and psychological toll on the refugees, who have limited access to telephone networks and are unable to understand local radio. 'Wherever I go in the camp, everyone is waiting and looking for any news,' Yusuf explains. The consequences of this can range from a lack of information about when aid will arrive or how to protect their flimsy tents from the monsoon rains to the trauma of being unable to locate lost loved ones. 'My people need information,' Yusuf reflects. 'News about not just the camp but also the people we have left behind in Myanmar.' Problems arise, he says, because 'the right information is not reaching the right place'. But Yusuf has a plan. He wants to build his own radio station that will report the news and provide information to the refugees. It's a major undertaking for somebody with so few resources and so many obstacles to navigate, and he's acutely aware that delivering the news comes with great responsibilities when so much and so many depend upon it. His is a dream that speaks not only to the desperate practical plight of the refugees, but also to their need to share their stories, to be heard and to connect with a world beyond the camps. But can Yusuf overcome the bureaucratic chaos, the monsoon rains and the trauma of his own family&
You can't fight city hall. Or can you Residents of a beleaguered mobile home park are about to find out. The City of Calgary has served them with an eviction notice, but some are refusing to leave. Midfield Mobile Home Park is in a prime Calgary location, a 17-acre inner-city site located in one of the busiest sections of the city - where the TransCanada Highway meets the city's main freeway. For more than four decades, residents have watched the city grow up around them, while their community has remained largely unchanged. Neighbours helped neighbours, gardens were planted and children were raised. Midfield was a small town within a big city. Then, in 2014, residents received an eviction notice: the park was to be be closed on September 30, 2017. The date was set for the final battle in a war that had been raging for 20 years. The City of Calgary cites crumbling infrastructure for the closure. Sewer pipes were placed under the homes in 1968, but time and a lack of maintenance have taken their toll. The City has stated that it would be too costly to conduct the necessary repairs. But residents of Midfield aren't buying it. With homes in the surrounding communities selling for millions of dollars and an aggressive redevelopment plan for the area already approved by City Council, the residents of Midfield Mobile Home Park believe they are sitting on land so valuable, it must come at the cost of their homes and their community. Rudy Prediger, an 83-year-old former long-haul trucker, is not a man who is afraid of a fight. More than half of Midfield's residents are like Rudy: elderly, poor and with no other place to go. The $10,000 [≈ Average community college tuition, four years, 2010] ≈ Average used car ≈ Average household credit card debt, 2010 'transitional allowance' the city is offering them doesn't even come close to a down payment in Calgary's frantic real estate market, and most of the mobile homes are too old to move. A pr
In the fields and terraces of the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian woman is leading a quiet revolution. Vivien Sansour is distributing rare, ancient heirloom seeds to Palestinian farmers. Inspired by memories of her grandmother and the delicious food of her childhood, Vivien wants to reintroduce long forgotten Palestinian produce to the tables of people across the West Bank and beyond. And she believes these organic, climate change-resistant seeds are the key to that. She experiments with growing the treasured seeds in her own garden beside the separation wall, under the watchful eye of Israeli soldiers. Popular local herbs and seasonal vegetables flourish as she tends to her garden with expert care and dreams of reviving and celebrating Palestinian food culture. But can she persuade farmers struggling with the pressures imposed by the Israeli occupation and agri-business to embrace such traditional crop-growing methods To convince them of the value of the seeds, she sets up a travelling kitchen, taking her seeds and their produce on the road and reminding Palestinians of the power of food to capture the joy and beauty of home.
After her son was murdered by Mohamed Merah, Latifa Ibn Ziaten decided to fight for France's marginalised youth. On March 11, 2012, Imad Ibn Ziaten, an off-duty French soldier, was shot at point-blank range in a suburb of Toulouse in southwestern France. His killer was Mohamed Merah, a 23-year-old Frenchman who claimed allegiance to al-Qaeda and would go on to kill two more soldiers as well as three children and a teacher at a Jewish school. This is the story of Imad's mother Latifa: The story of a mother whose world fell apart, a mother who became an activist, a mother who chose to fight hatred with love.
A counting machine flips through a stack of bright pink-coloured paper money - bills destined for children at an elementary school in Taiwan. The notes are either passed out by teachers for a job well done, exchanged by children at a student-run grocery store, or - if the experiment is a success - carefully saved up and responsibly spent. The idea for this school bank experiment was conceived by Lai Hao-wei, an education specialist at Wenlin Elementary School in Taipei, who was tasked by the school's principle to teach students the value of money. Taiwanese are no strangers to the hardships of recession given their export-reliant economy which fluctuates according to global demand, and Lai himself knows what it is like to misspend and run into debt as a young adult. 'When I first entered the real world, I had no understanding of finance whatsoever. I spent everything I earned every month. I even had credit card debt once. It took me a long time to pay that off,' Lai remembers. Inspired by the popular board game, Monopoly, Lai hopes that his 'Wenlin dollars' can teach students how to better manage their finances and prepare them for adulthood. 'Students will be able to learn about earning and spending,' Lai says. 'The children can earn their own money and take full responsibility. By doing this, I believe they can really experience matters of finance.' Lai's first challenge is to get teachers on board, which is not easy at the traditional school. 'It's quite an old school which makes it difficult to change things,' he says. 'I have no idea whether this whole thing will work.' And as Lai gets the programme going he encounters some unexpected challenges. He has angered some members of the Parent-Teachers Association, who accuse him of violating Taiwan's Labor Standards Act by 'employing' children. But Lai pushes onward with the programme to prove that his 'Wenlin dollars' truly have value.
A community questions its Sami heritage when one of Scandinavia's largest known iron ore deposits is discovered nearby. Thirty kilometres from the Swedish world heritage site of Laponia, plans to introduce a controversial new iron ore mine in Gallok (also known as Kallak) are under way. The opinions of the 3,000 people living in the nearby town of Jokkmokk are polarised. Tor, a father of two, reclaims his Sami surname and joins a group of indigenous and environmental activists to stop British company Beowulf from mining on the ancestral lands of the indigenous Sami people.
One refugee family faces incredible odds and countless setbacks as they travel over 3,000km across Europe. The Nabi family set out on a more than 3,000km journey from Syria to Germany in hopes of reuniting with family there [Screengrab/Al Jazeera] "The regime was bombing us on a daily basis ... The hardest decision was to leave Aleppo, but I could see that my family needed me," recalls Guevara Nabi the weeks before fleeing war-torn Syria. Like thousands of Syrians, the Nabi family left everything they knew behind and set off on an over 3,000km journey in search of safety and asylum in Europe.
One man's quest to revive Russia's largest car company. Swedish manager, Bo Inge Andersson, meets all the job criteria, on paper, to run Russia's largest car manufacturing company. He worked previously for Saab and General Motors and successfully turned around another large Russian car manufacturing company, GAZ, from losses of $1bn to annual profits.
Pidia Joseph Allieu has made it his life's work to eradicate sexual violence in Sierra Leone. Although the precise figures are impossible to confirm, it's estimated that more than 200,000 women were the victims of gender-based violence during the country's devastating 1991-2002 civil war - and this legacy of abuse has endured. As a teacher at the Husband School, Pidia attempts to make fundamental changes in the arena where some of the worst crimes are committed - marriage. He leads classes for men in a rural area in eastern Sierra Leone, inviting them to share their views on the treatment of women and helping them to build a better understanding of the consequences of their attitudes and actions. For many of these men - some past retirement age - this is the first time they have been in a formal classroom situation, but once a week for six months they take a break from their work and voluntarily participate in the training sessions. The idea is to open their minds to the bigger picture and encourage them to embark on a different, more mutually respectful relationship with their wives. It is also not unusual for Pidia to be the first point of contact when a family reaches crisis point and acts of violence are committed. 'People trust me because my family have always lived in this neighbourhood; it's why they call me first rather than the police,' he says. But, as with many NGO projects in Sierra Leone, funding for the Husband School is inconsistent and Pidia goes months on end without payment. Nevertheless, Pidia is determined to continue his work, knowing that many families in the community rely on his support. 'I am not doing my job for money,' says Pidia. 'It's a passion. Because I know it's life-saving.'
In 2013, a fisherman in Gaza saw the shape of a man buried in shallow waters. He thought it was someone who had drowned. But upon closer inspection, it was a statue - one so heavy it capsized his boat and broke the tow ropes when he first tried to pull it up. Eventually he got it to shore, then home. Along the way, he realised he might have something valuable on his hands - something that needed to be hidden until he could figure out how to sell it. But just weeks after it was discovered the statue - which depicted Apollo, the god of arts, beauty and prophecy - vanished, causing all sorts of speculation.
In the rainforests of the Central African Republic (CAR) is Dzanga Bai, a remote clearing where a tall canopy of trees - full of the hum of insects and calls of wildlife - gives way to soft mud and pools of water. Here, some of the rainforests' largest mammals gather. Forest elephants - each with their own markings, scars, and personalities - bathe in mud, look after their young, search for mates, and play with each other. When an elephant comes to a river, he tests the bottom with every careful step. So the proverb says, 'You will always be safe if you follow the path of an elephant.' Zephirine Mbele, eco-guard On an observation platform nearby, Sessely Bernard, a tracker and elder of the Bayaka people, and Andrea Turkalo, an American field biologist, sit side-by-side, recording the elephants' behaviour. For 23 years Bernard and Turkalo have watched the elephants grow and can identify them by name. Sharing their platform is Zephirine Mbele, an eco-guard dedicated to protecting the animals from poachers. Uniting the three is their profound respect for the elephants: For Bernard, they are co-inhabitants of his homeland; for Turkalo, the focus of her research, and for Mbele, the subjects of his safekeeping. But in this quiet clearing the rumbling of conflict is not far away. Seleka rebel fighters, who have overthrown the government, are approaching Dzanga-Ndoki National Park and the elephants' home. In the coming days, Bernard, who knows the river stream where he was born, the medicinal use of plants underfoot, and the calls and cries of the elephants he tracks, hears an unwelcome sound tear across his home: Gunshots. Witness follows him and the others as they study and protect the elephants and who - when conflict strikes - must face the possibility of walking away.
Across Sweden, young Viking enthusiasts have been angered by the actions of some far-right organisations who have adopted Viking iconography to represent white supremacist propaganda. One, in particular, is the Nordic Resistance Movement, known as the NRM. Viking enthusiast Robin Lundin is the co-founder of an association called Vikingar Mot Rasism (Vikings Against Racism, or VAR). The group was formed on Facebook to combat the conflation of Viking enthusiasm with neo-nazism, and it has more than 1,500 members. The NRM hold a rally in Robin's hometown of Kungalv. He uses the rally as a chance to challenge one of the NRM's leaders face-to-face about their misappropriation of Viking symbols. NRM's rallies frequently become violent, but Robin remains undeterred in his bid to expose the NRM’s ignorance and reclaim his Viking identity, without being branded a neo-Nazi.
Appalachian filmmaker returns home to examine the media’s stereotyping of hillbillies and the American cultural divide. Residents in the Appalachia region of the United States are used to the "hillbilly" stereotype.
Mammoths generate multimillion-dollar businesses as scientists race to bring the extinct species back to life. A team of researchers excavate an ancient animal carcass in the farthest reaches of the Siberian arctic.
Winfred Rembert, 74, is a Star Wars fanatic and leather artist who grew up picking cotton on a plantation in Georgia in the United States. He joined the civil rights movement as a teenager and survived a lynching attempt when he was 21 years old. Decades on, he develops a friendship with Dr Shirley Jackson Whitaker, a physician and fellow artist who is on a mission to memorialise the forgotten 4,000 African Americans lynched during the Jim Crow era, which enforced racial segregation in the Southern states from 1877 through to the 1950s. Together, their journeys of healing intertwine.
A community fights to survive and claim back its dignity after the arrival of a multinational gold mine. For countless generations, the people of Kalsaka, a small village in Burkina Faso, have made their living from artisanal gold panning. This ended in 2008 with the arrival of a multinational mining corporation, which expropriated local land and exploited its natural resources. After extracting 18 tonnes of gold, the company closed its mining operations in Kalsaka. The local community reflects on the aftermath as it tries to survive and reclaim its land and future.
Orly manages Eusebio 24hr Funeral Services in Manila, in the Philippines. His relationships with clients reveal both the empathy and contempt he holds for the country's "drug war" victims who have lost their loved ones in police killings and are now, like him, struggling to survive. When Angelita, who lost her son in a suspected drug-related police killing, arrives at Eusebio 24hr Funeral Services, she realises she cannot afford her son's funeral. Angelita sets out to raise the money, battling the odds to raise more than twice the money it takes to care for her family in one year. Welcome to life behind the headlines of President Rodrigo Duterte's "war on drugs".
Parcham is a group offering sex workers information and assistance in seeking other forms of income, providing a means for their children to attend primary school in India – many of them for the first time.
