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The life and career of the renowned stage magician turned scientific skeptic of the paranormal, James Randi.
2014 • People
Samsara is a documentary that explores the world through images to discover the connection between humanity and nature. The film was shot in 25 different countries over 5 years to deliver a powerful and unique insight into natural wonders, disaster zones and sacred places around the world. The world Samsara means “The ever turning wheel of life”; a Tibetan word which is something Ron Fricke and Mark Magidson have explored in a precisely filmed documentary using 70mm camera specially made for the film as well as using a dynamic music score. Prepare for a journey through the human soul.
2011 • People
Adolf Hitler is infamous today as a war criminal - arguably one of the worst war criminals in history. Yet during the 1930s he was loved by millions of Germans. How was this possible? In this fascinating series, award-winning historian and documentary maker Laurence Rees examines the background to Hitler's 'charismatic' rule.
S1E2 • The Dark Charisma of Adolf Hitler • 2012 • People
Thirty years after the collapse of the USSR, the martial rhetoric and other trappings of the "strong men" of the totalitarian era are making a comeback. Why? The film's director Ivo Briedis and the journalist Rita Rudusa were both born in the Soviet Union. Together, they embark on a journey to explore the phenomenon of HOMO SOVIETICUS. They want to know if a totalitarian mindset can still be found in countries that were formerly part of the Soviet Union. The thinker Alexander Zinoviev defined as Homo Sovieticus as a person who is, at their core, an opportunist. They do not rebel against their leadership, and want to take as little individual responsibility as possible. Did these characteristics develop specifically as a result of growing up in the Soviet Union, or can they develop in any society? To find out, they speak with people who lived under the Soviet regime, as well as with members of the first post-Soviet generation.
2021 • People
Bin Laden's on the run and plotting an audacious plan to strike at the US. Bin Laden returns to Saudi Arabia from Afghanistan, where he is hailed as a war hero after the Soviets left because he believes he made a significant contribution to the military victory. 18 months later, Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait, prompting worried Saudi authorities to turn to the US for protection. Horrified by what he perceives as an invasion of the holy places by the American army, bin Laden publicly opposes the Saudi royal family declaring Jihad against the US and is eventually forced to flee to Sudan. There he reinvents himself as a major agricultural producer of sunflowers and watermelons, while expanding al-Qaeda's work and setting up training camps that attract recruits from across the region. Under pressure from Saudi Arabia and the United States, bin Laden finally has to give up his refuge in Sudan. Stateless and without much prospect of alternative quarters, he returns to Afghanistan in 1996. Just a few months later, he issued a 30-page fatwa declaring holy war against the Americans who occupied the Arabian Peninsula. He surrounded himself with increasingly radical extremists, and in the summer of 1996 finally suggested piloting planes to American targets. The plan to attack the Twin Towers is born. This compelling history documentary looks at the factors that transformed Bin Laden from a renowned freedom fighter to a devoted enemy of America and the West. What drove him to plot his most audacious attack?
S1E2 • Bin Laden: The Road to 9.11 • 2021 • People
In previous decades, most news with global reach came from several major newspapers and networks with the resources to gather information directly. The speed with which information spreads now, however, has created the ideal conditions for something called circular reporting. Noah Tavlin sheds light on this phenomenon.