After the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004, widowed women struggled to receive aid due to their social status. Following the story of Mrs. Manjula along with many other women from Tamil Nadu, the challenges faced by millions of widows across the country are illuminated. From being ostracized to denied basic rights and economic opportunities, widows in India endure a cycle of discrimination and marginalization. “Kalangarai” meaning "lighthouse" in Tamil, is an organization dedicated to empowering women through initiatives such as self-help groups and educational programs. Throughout the film, "Lighthouse" illustrates the emotional journeys and resilience of these women, as well as the active change that Kalangarai strives to achieve. This documentary urges global awareness and support for widowed women’s rights, as the women’s struggles depict the intersectionality of gender, poverty, and social injustice.
In Mauritania, travel writer Blanche de Richemont explores life in the sands by meeting the women of Adrar, a mountainous region where nomadic culture remains very present.
Alberto Angela retraces the stages of the largest military landing in history, recounting the preparation and consequences, up to the liberation of Paris on 25 August 1944, which ideally marks the end of the great operation that began with D-Day.
The season proved to be another roller coaster ride at the Bridge, but one where new young dynamic talent took to the stage and unquestionably delivered. Epitomised by the sensational and sublime Cole Palmer, who scored 24 goals, provided 13 assists and was absolutely devastating throughout. Marvel once again at his skills as every game is captured here in the Chelsea FC Season Review 2023/24.
Chris Worthington sets out to document what the future of evangelism looks like. He invites you to get stranded in a West African dust storm, get shot at on the way to a 400,000 person Gospel event, and ultimately discover that it’s no longer about a select few famous evangelists, but about an entire generation of people just like YOU.
In the 50s and 60s, in Bucharest, political prisoners give birth to their children in one of the most beautiful monasteries in Central and Eastern Europe, later transformed into Văcărești Prison. Today, a wild vegetation has taken over these places, forming an ecosystem spread over several hectares with protected species of plants and animals, a protected natural park.
A 55 hours journey, from Bucharest to Madrid, in a bus packed with Romanians sleeping on the floor, spending time in empty parkways or eating in small restaurants from the highways. A collective portrait of the children of Romanian emigrants in Spain, through the short clips they have in their mobile phones and their stories of nostalgia. The final trip of a Romanian to his native country, in the back of a hearse, with two Romanian undertakers who make all the mistakes they could have made. Three fragments from the lives of people who are dreaming about the day they will return home, but are too scared to completely reset, once again, their whole lives.
Misha, a 17-year-old boy, spent the last three years of his life in Goian, the only penitentiary for minors from Moldova. On the last day of his conviction, he gathers some of the things he can take „home”. His plans for life after-prison look promising. Misha intends to find a job, to start a family and to recover what he missed from his relationship with his parents and two younger brothers.
“I’ve been a robber, a thief, a thug. I blew my veins out, I drank, I drank and I fucked chicks. I never stole from the poor. I’m HIV-positive since 16 years. I’m repenting over time. I cleaned myself from my sins. I committed offenses but I never took a human life away. Not yet. Haven’t got an abortion either. These are mortal sins - and as for the others, I paid already. I’ve been the worst of bitches but in this life already I’ve seen the light. My name is Stela, I’m 42 years old and I spent 10 of them in jail. Chaos is my life.”
Matei Vişniec is considered to be the most important contemporary Romanian playwright. His plays are translated into more than 20 languages and are played in over 50 countries. At the invitation of the writer, a TVR Iasi team, made up of journalist Andreea Ştiliuc and cameraman Relu Tabără, was this documentary filmed in July in France.
An impressive visual and sonorous experience through the meanders of the Danube, from its delta in the Black Sea to Serbia, in search of the gypsy people (or the Roma) and their music and culture.
F. has been living in Bucharest for four years since fleeing Afghanistan with her family. The thoughtful 18-year-old films her life in the Romanian capital: her trips to the park, life at home with her brothers and sisters, and the conversations she has with her Romanian friends. When the Covid-19 pandemic approaches, bringing a lockdown, she has to spend a month indoors. She kills time with funny observations of life outdoors, filmed through the window.
Poet, musician, intellectual, and committed communist Nina Cassian wrestled for decades with the central contradiction of her life: how to reconcile her artistic ideals with the strict censorship imposed by Romania’s Communist Party — a tension that put her at odds with the totalitarian Ceaușescu regime and eventually led to her exile. Interweaving archival footage with firsthand interviews, this thought-provoking documentary illuminates the complex relationships between art, politics, and personal truths.
Arsenie Boca, a priest, theologian, and mystic persecuted by the communist regime, is considered holy by many believers, although he has yet to be canonized.
1968, The Socialist Republic of Romania. Women catch up on the latest tendencies in beachwear, the young hippies of Hamburg are harshly criticized by Romanian students, while Nicolae Ceaușescu reads the famous defiance speech against the intervention of the Warsaw Pact troops in Czechoslovakia. Floating solemnly over all this is The Internationale, sung on a stadium by a crowd of pioneers dressed in white shirts and red ties. A certainty for each probability: the documentary is at the same time a history lesson and an ideological warning sign, the director’s endeavour permanently draws our attention to the functions of the propaganda film, yet without tarnishing the fascination that dwells in the core of the images, that of the figures that wave at us from a past buried in commonplaces and political parti pris.
In the Romanian town of Craiova, five hundred elderly people are passing their days in a home, for which they pay with their paltry pensions. Every day looks the same, every activity is predictable. Even the people‘s complaints are part of the daily routine. One of the residents hopes in vain that a lottery ticket will bring him refuge. For six days, filmmakers Andreea Paduraru and Cristi Puiu try to get through to these people, who are carrying their whole past on their backs. To the question what the best days of their lives was, nobody can or wants to give an answer. Nearly everyone immediately starts about the day-to-day worries and problems in the home. Finally, one woman tells about her activities as head of the research department of the government of Ceausescu, with whom she once had an argument. Another resident recalls his time as a soldier in World War II and proceeds to the order of the day.
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