Journey Along the Silk Road(2005)

The Silk Road(en)

The NHK Tokushu and China's CCTV documentary series The Silk Road began on April 7, 1980. The program started with the memorable scene of a camel caravan crossing the desert against the setting sun, with Kitaro's music and a sense of timelessness. It was the start of an epic televisual poem. The first journey described in the series began in Chang'an (now Xi'an), at the eastern end of the ancient route. On 450,000 feet of film, the NHK crew recorded the path westward to the Pamir Heights at the Pakistan border and this material was edited to make 12 monthly broadcasts. In response to viewers' requests that the series be extended to cover the Silk Road all the way to Rome, sequels were made over the next 10 years. Seventeen years after the program was conceived, the project was completed.

Mysterious China: Marco Polo's Silk Road(en)

Part two of the Mysterious China series chronicles Marco Polo's adventures and discoveries along the Silk Road as he heads toward the Mongol Empire in China. This documentary reveals the pivotal trade route as experienced and written about by the 13th-century explorer. Follow the tracks of the Venetian adventurer -- one of the first Westerners to journey into China -- and uncover the mysteries of the Silk Road.

Silk Road Ghosts(en)

Silk Road Ghosts takes the viewer off the beaten path as I ply a circuit, following in the footsteps of the ancient conquerors, passing through some of the more remarkable parts of Central Asia's Silk Road. From Almaty in Kazakhstan, I set out towards a daunting rendezvous with the Darvasa Gas Crater in Turkmenistan. Along the way I dot many of the road's pivotal locations, bearing witness to its myriad ghosts which served to glorify the annals of our planet's history.

The Yellow Cruise(fr)

The Yellow Cruise is a French documentary film initially directed by André Sauvage and taken over by Léon Poirier following the intervention of André Citroën. The film was presented in Paris in 1934. André Sauvage was hired by the Pathé-Natan company to follow the yellow cruise through Asia. In 1931 and 1932, forty-two men, including Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, scholars and doctors traveled thirty thousand kilometers on the Silk Road through the Middle and Far East, in caterpillar propellants. Together, despite the bad weather, the difficulties of the terrain, the mechanical failures and the political conflicts, they reached Beijing on February 12, 1932. André Citroën who asked to see the film, dissatisfied with the result, bought it from Bernard Natan and entrusted the editing by Léon Poirier, who had filmed La Croisière Noire in Africa in 1926. This film will mark the break in the film career of André Sauvage.

A Rota: Silk Road(pt)

Internet Urban Legend(ja)

A collection of 11 various urban legends from the internet.

Secrets of the Silk Road(en)

The Silk Road, one of history's most famed trade routes, linked China to Europe, the Middle East and India and was traveled by such legends as Alexander the Great, Marco Polo and Genghis Khan's Mongol warriors. Follow in the footsteps of the iconic figures and see how the road's ancient past is wrapped up in the fast-changing world of modern China, particularly the country's remote western region.

Silk Road(en)

Philosophical twenty-something Ross Ulbricht creates Silk Road, a dark net website that sells drugs, while DEA agent Rick Bowden goes undercover to bring him down.

Thomas Sankara(en)

Captain Thomas Sankara was the leader of the Burkinabe Revolution. This film is a biographical profile of the revolutionary, the improvements he generated in his country and the new socio-political dimension he instituted in Burkina Faso.

Biker Fox(en)

Frank P. DeLarzelere III, a middle-aged car part salesman, operates as a motivational bicyclist under the pseudonym Biker Fox. He soon reveals his misunderstood personality and various complexities all while attempting to conserve local wildlife, overcome harassment by law enforcement, deal with his brash mood swings and become a public figure in his hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Crips: Strapped and Strong(en)

Documentary of the lives of Dutch gangsters

An American Candidate(en)

A filmmaker follows the campaign of Daniel Byington, a libertarian going up against Democratic Party House Leader Dick Gephardt in the 2002 Congressional elections. The film explores the question of the value of a two-party system.

Attack! The Battle for New Britain(en)

Actual footage by the United States Signal Corps of the landing and attack on Arawe Beach, Cape Glouster, New Britain island in 1943 in the South Pacific theatre of World War Two, and the handicaps of the wild jungle in addition to the Japanese snipers and pill-box emplacements.

Freiheit im Herzen – Lasst es uns eilig haben, menschlich zu sein(en)

Freiheit! – this is the cry that thousands of people are uniting to protest against oppression in Tehran and around the world following the death of the young Iranian woman Jina Mahsa Amini on September 16, 2022. Arrested by Iranian morality police for allegedly wearing an incorrect headscarf, Amini died in custody just three days later, sparking international outrage and solidarity. The protests have reached as far as Germany, where Iranian exiles who escaped the Iranian regime in the 1970s took to the streets side by side with young second-generation German-Iranians such as Jasmin Shakeri, Pegah Ferydoni, Natalie Amiri and Enissa Amani. Together they are fighting for a free future in which Iranian society can also live without fear and in dignity.

The Last Ambassador(fa)

The Afghan ambassador in Vienna, Manizha Bakhtari, is in a bizarre situation since the Taliban took power: she represents a country whose old government fled and whose new Taliban government has no international recognition. Under increasingly difficult conditions, she decides to stand up to the Taliban and continue her courageous fight for the rights of Afghanistan's women.

Hugh MacDiarmid: Rebel Poet(en)

A profile from 1972 of celebrated Scottish poet Hugh MacDiarmid on the occasion of his 80th birthday. In this film he talks about his uncompromising life and the ideas and circumstances that have shaped its progress.

The Polish Pope: Nation's Farewell(pl)

Film explores the profound impact Pope John Paul II's death had on Polish society, both inside and outside of the Catholic Church.

Black Water(bn)

Humanity is heading towards a "climate apartheid". The rich will pay to escape global warming, famine and conflict, while the poorest will suffer the worst consequences. By 2050, Bangladesh will have approximately 220 million inhabitants and a large part of its territory will be permanently submerged.This situation could lead to the forced displacement of between 10 and 30 million inhabitants of the country's southern coastline, forcing many Bangladeshis to flee the country as "climate refugees", a human collective that is expected to reach 250 million people worldwide by mid-century.On a planetary scale, we are talking about the largest mass migration in human history. How long will Dhaka be able to cope with the influx of so many people, where will these people go when the cities collapse, who will take them in?We are sitting on a big time bomb.

The Falcons(hy)

The Falcons is an intimate, observational documentary that delves into the world of the Tshakhruk Ethnoband, a remarkable musical ensemble in the Armenian highlands. Comprised of special-needs children that reside at the state orphanage, these young musicians find solace, strength, and self-expression through the transformative power of music.

Rough Cut(en)

Lyadia Lee explores the youth of New York through their personalities and perspectives on the society.